Hand Gestures

Okay, well... the sketch-a-day posts disappeared for a while. I'm still going to try to post a lot of updates, but I'd rather spend more time on each piece right now, because I'm working on some concept art for my upcoming junior film. So, while they won't be titled "Day X" anymore, I'll still have lots of goodies to put up. Like these 30 second gestures. I've been using this website as a warm-up tool recently for gestures.






Like I said, I've been working on some concept art for my junior film recently, and while I don't want to put a lot of it up yet until I have a better idea as to what it's going to be, here are a least a couple sketches of Geneva.



I finally watched Secret of Kells, which has some fantastic design in it. Very different from anything else that's out there in mainstream animation. I'm looking forward to their follow up, Song of the Sea. Here's Aisling from Secret of Kells:


The area I work at in Hollywood Studios recently got new costumes, and while the one I'm wearing now isn't so bad, the girls' new outfits look a little bit like clowns. So I drew it how I felt it should look if they want that polka dot look. (On the actual costume, the dots are ALL OVER.)

And finally, some hands. I've been doing a ton of hand studies, looking at everything from old Milt Kahl drawings to Secret of Kells stuff, and drawing a lot of hands from life as well. I'm finally becoming not quite so eager to hide my characters' hands behind things.

Day 18

Day 17 - Jellyfish

This one's for you, Norma.

Day 16 - Inspired by Victoria Ying

The past few days I've been taking a look at Victoria Ying's blog. Victoria is a Visual Development artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and I love her watercolor style. Her girls, in particular, are outstanding - I would guess she has been heavily influenced by the likes of Fred Moore and Chris Sanders.

So I've been trying my hand at some paintings, keeping an eye on her style and trying to pull bits from it. Thanks for the inspiration, Victoria!

Day 15

Day 14 - Finally Something Colored

More goodies coming soon. I may be opening up for some super cheap commissions soon.

Day 13... and more!

A few really rough sketches for today... I've been busy working on a freelance gig at the moment, so haven't had a whole lot of time for the sketchbook, but I'll post what I can manage. First, some weird guys with some weird eyes...




Also, I just finished reading the new book, Winnie the Pooh: A Celebration of the Silly Old Bear, which is basically a "history and art of" the Winnie the Pooh films.


It's a great book, detailing how A.A. Milne's characters came to be, why the "real-life" Christopher Robin didn't actually like Winnie the Pooh, and how the characters eventually came into Disney's possession. It has lots of cool concept art, story sketches, and animation drawings from the classic films and the new film (although not quite as much as some other "art of" books), and has made me very excited to go see it next week. Anyone who loves art and animation, or even just Winnie the Pooh in general, should definitely check it out.

It got me excited enough for the new film that I've been drawing the Silly Old Bear all day.


Winnie the Pooh is ©Disney

Day 12

I'm trying to go for a more sculptural, almost cg look to my characters. I've been thinking about drawing in the sense that I'm capturing one frame from a finished piece - almost working backwards, instead of trying to draw one piece at a time until I get to the finished piece.

I don't know. Just some artist crap.

Day 11 - OZ

Exciting news - Raleigh Studios has just opened a new studio in Pontiac, MI... very close to where I live. The first film they will be working on is Disney's OZ: The Great and Powerful.

Since I was in the mood, I did a sketch of the Cowardly Lion, after saving Dorothy in the made up story that happened while I was doodling.



And then this bug, because Mr. Bug Goes to Town has just been released on DVD by Disney.

Lack of Stuff.

Yeah, yeah... I've missed like three days now. In my defense, I've been in the process of moving down to Florida for the rest of the summer, and just haven't had time.

I will have all kinds of goodies up tomorrow though to make up for it. I promise.