COMIC CON SKETCH #1

So there I am, lurking around the Random House booth at Comic Con, making faces at Lunch Lady author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka while he's in the middle of a big meeting.


Eventually he finishes and while we're hanging out talking he introduces me to a young guy standing nearby. It kinda went like this:

Jarrett: Chris, this is Tom Warburton. He created The New Kids on the Block.

Me: Um... actually it's Codename: Kids Next Door.

Jarrett: That's what I said, The Kids in the Hall.

Me: No... Codename: Kids Next Door.

Chris: Did you say Codename: Kids Next Door?

Me: Uh huh.

Chris: Get out! That show totally saved me while I was on massively long book tours!

Me: Really? That's great! What were you touring for?

Then he pointed to a book on a nearby table:


Oh, that's nice---

What?!
What?!
WHAT?!

I was talking to none other than Christopher Paolini?!


And he's a KND fan?!
And a sooper nice guy to boot!

DUDE!

And as it turns out... me and a bunch of the KND crew were all reading Eragon while making the show. So the fanboy action was totally mutual!

And can you believe it? He actually beat me to the punch and asked me to draw something in HIS sketchbook. Of course I did... but not without getting him to rock this in mine:



Mr. Sulu... Awesomeness factor five.

Engage!

And stay tuned for more Comic Con sketches!

COMIC CON 2010

Well, I just got back from my first San Diego Comic Con as a native Californian!
To be honest, I had only attended once before-- around 4 years ago when Cartoon Network brought all their show creators out for a long weekend of nerdness. And while that first trip was one to remember, this one rocked pretty hard as well-- even thought I was only there for a day and a half.

I spent slot of time with these guys:


Uh huh...

It's that Dan Santat and Jarrett Krosoczka again.
And wherever those guys are...
These guys usually show up:


Si senor...

Bob Boyle and James Burks had a table and were hawking their wares to an adoring public.

And you know I had to hang out with Maxwell Atoms while was there, although I don't have any pictures of him. So I'll use this one from Comic Cons past:


I also got to spend some quality time with a lot of old friends and even made some new ones along the way!

Anyway... the Con (or The Annual Running Of The Nerds as Mr. Santat calls it) was awesome as always and included all the usual things that make it so great:

Stormtroopers:


Pikachus:


Sooper Fans:


Secret missions through the loading docks:


Awesome diaramas:


And animal feeding:



But you know what I like best about going to The Con?
Aw, you know me...

I just wanna get awesome artists to draw awesome pictures in my sketchbook.
And over the next couple posts I'll show you some of the pretty pictures some fine folks made for me.

So keep it locked here, would ya?
You don't wanna miss these puppies.

NUMBUH THREE AT COMIC CON!

You've always wanted to meet Lauren Tom, right?

I mean, who wouldn't want to meet the voice of Numbuh Three?

Well, she'll be doing a signing at the San Diego Comic Con
on Saturday July 24th at booth AA20 from 5-7pm!
She'll be signing with a couple other sooper awesome voice actors from Futurama including John Dimaggio (Bender), Phil Lamarr (Hermes Conrad), Billy West (Fry) and Maurice Lamarche (Kif, Morbo... not to mention the evil Father from KND!)

What?

You thought Lauren only played Numbuh Three?

Nope... she's also Amy Wong in Futurama!
(amongst tons of characters on other shows!)


But since there are so many Kuki fans out there she asked me if I had a picture of Numbuh Three she could make 8x10's of...

So I whipped up a sooper special 2010 Comic Con exclusive drawing for her!


In case you're wondering... that's
"These Aren't The Droids We're Looking For Rainbow Monkey"
she's holding!

So if you're at the Con this Saturday... definitely definitely stop by and a give Lauren a rainboriffic friendly friend hi-howya-doin' hug and have her sign a drawing for ya!
She'd love to see you!

JORGE GUTIERREZ!

My sooper powers just get stronger and stronger EVERY DAY!

Uh huh...

They do.

Take this bit of raw powuh as an example:

First, I tracked down sooper talented Jorge Gutierrez on Facebook.
Yes... THAT Jorge Guiterrez!
As in Nickelodeon's EL TIGRE Jorge Gutierrez!


I've always loved his stuff and I heard he was a sooper triple nice guy so I figured I'd use my powers to make him go to lunch with me.
And of course he gave in with little resistance...

So we chatted about all things animation over some tasty ahi tuna burgers.
I especially wanted to hear about CARMEN GOT EXPELLED, the pilot he and his wife Sandra Equihua completed for Disney.

Wanna see it?

I know... silly question. Check it:

Awesome, right?

Unfortunately, the powers that be at Disney didn't have their awsomosity detectors set properly and passed on the project.

But fear not! Jorge told me about all the cool new stuff he and Sandra have in the works. He probably wouldn't have told a normal person, but my powers were so sooper he couldn't help himself. How sooper?

Sooper enough for him to pay for lunch AND do this gorgeous drawing for me:



But you know what? I think he might have sooper powers, too since he somehow tricked me into doing a KND drawing for him AND paying for lunch next time!

Hmmmmmmmmm...

I'm going to keep an eye on this guy... and so should you!

LET'S GET SHARP!

Fellow Artsy-Fartsy Artists...

Scantron Test Takers...

Bowlers and Miniature Golfers...

How many times has your BEST work been thwarted
by a mis-sharpened pencil?
The hilarious caricature of your algebra teacher ruined by a broken point...
Your SAT score tanked because of half-filled dots...
Your birdie or spare unrecognized due to illegibility...

Yes, yes... the list goes on and I hear your laments and gnashing of teeth.
But Ica n't do anything about it.
I simply don't have the precision... the craft... the sharpitude.
But I know someone that does.

Mr. David Rees.
He of Get Your War On fame has started...

AN ARTISANAL PENCIL SHARPENING BUSINESS!



Let's face it, we're not trained to sharpen our own pencils...

YET WE DO IT ALL THE TIME!

Why not leave it to the experts?

All you have to do is send your #2 pencils to Mr. Rees and for $12.50 a piece he'll sharpen them to a precision graded point.

What's that? You say you think that $12.50 sounds kind of expensive?

But is it REALLY?

Each pencil that Mr. Rees receives gets his PERSONALIZED attention and is sharpened in the old-world tradition that pencils were meant to be sharpened in.
Then they're shipped back to you in a protective tube complete with down-to-the-micrometer grading:



You'll also receive a signed certificate of sharpening as proof that your pencil was sharpened to artisanal standards:



And of course Mr. Rees guarantees this:

All shavings are bagged, sealed, labeled, and returned to the owner to dispose of as they wish. After all, shavings are part of the pencil– and it’s YOUR pencil.

Beware pencil-sharpening services that don’t return your shavings! They’re ripping you off!



Still not convinced?
Don't want to waste your precious pencils on a service
you're not 2000% sure of?
Why not try it out?
For $40 you'll get a safety-tubed, precision sharpened pencil from Mr. Rees' personal collection (complete with bagged shavings),
a certificate of authenticity,
and a limited edition copy of the poster shown above.
(I got number 12 of 50!)

Interested? Go HERE!
And don't be shy to browse through the rest of Mr. Rees' blog--

He hasn't been called the 'The Hottest Blogger on the Scene' for nothin', you know.

NEXT!

Another buncha months go by...
Another sketchbook bites the dust.

This one went from March 3rd to June 25th, 2010 and this time I went with a bigger sketchbook than usual-- an 11x14 monstrosity. I've been trying to force myself to draw bigger and this was a great way to do it.


So what sprouted upon the pages of this tome of sketchiness?

Another squid/plant thingie:


Numbuh One meets a dragon:


Uuuuuum... I dunno:


A tree:


A... well, it's a... um, you know...


Oh yeah... when I was speaking at Full Sail University in Florida, I got to attend some lectures by a couple of former Disney animators. And of course, using my evil powers, I made them draw in my sketchbook. That's Sam Ewing up top (who I found out used to rock the NYC animation scene in the olden days)... and Barry Temple below (I studied his scenes from Roger Rabbit's Roller Coaster Rabbit incessantly when I was in college, stopping it frame by frame on my VCR!)


Towards approximately the last third of the sketchbook, I just started drawing random characters, one per page:










And before I knew it...

BOOM!

Another sketchbook cooked.

And now it's on the the next one!
I think I'm gonna go back to a smaller book this time, though.

PAPA'S GOT A BRAND NEW (OLD) BAG!

Sooper pal and former development czar at Cartoon Network Heather Kenyon (who's now over at Starz Media) was doing some office cleaning and sent me the awesome bag pictured above.

It was a giveaway at the Annecy Animation Festival way back in 2004! I've never been to that festival (which is kind of ridiculous) and didn't even know the bag existed-- but it would have been pretty awesome seeing everyone in France walking around with Numbuh One at their hip!

Thanks, Heather!