A Lovely Anhinga Sketch

The Anhinga is also known as the Water-Turkey (for it's broad tail, and being a swimmer) or Snake Bird (because only its head and neck can often be visible while swimming).  They can be seen spreading their wings out to help them dry and a nice dip.

Random Pen and Ink Abstract Warmup

Only so much time in the day.  Here's a warmup that came out pretty interesting. Enjoy.

Animation Quote of the Day! Walt Disney Risk Taker and Ward Kimball

"Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive."

Walt Disney

Despite how safe and formulaic Disney movies eventually became, Walt was a risk taker who did experiment with different kinds of animation.  Movies like the Skeleton Dance,

Fantasia, Song of the South, and one of my personal favorites The Three Caballeros. And pretty much anything Ward Kimball directed or had a hand in at the studio.  Here are two Kimball movies that won Academy Awards!

"Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom"

"It's Tough to be a Bird" and educational movie, but awesome. Look it up and watch it. Big time fun factor.


Ralph Bakshi is another fellow who pushed animation into new territory.  His collaborative work with legend Frank Frazetta on "Fire and Ice" is my favorite of his work and a must see!

The point is Animation is a medium not a genre, it can be used in any genre.

More recently, I thought "9" was a very good, dark, and not child friendly movie.  I am looking forward to the director Shane Acker's new movie "Beasts of Burden" and any other movies that want to break the current mold of animation as strictly a family friendly medium (even though I do have a soft spot for the looney golden age stuff).

New Year Pinnups! Oh My

Some fresh pencil sketches, a little workout.

Dinosaur Illustration: boy meets Deinonychus family

Here's the first page of a dinosaur adventure kids book I'm working on.  It's something I would have loved to read when I was a pup.

I chose to use the most cutting edge ideas about dinosaurs.  Certain dino fossils have been found with feathers covering their entire body!  Most famously Archaeopteryx seen below.

No big surprise, Archaeopteryx had a bone structure very similar to modern day birds.  Therefore, one can assume that other dinos, like theropods who also shared this bone structure, very well had feathers covering their bodies.  I would guess for camouflage, communicating, and/or mating.  For a kids book, I chose to go with the more visually ravishing tropical kind of color schemes.

Cupid's Conundrum Concept Art

Here's some concept art I did for a little movie based in San Francisco.  It's a fun story about online dating.  These paintings show the difference between what is first perceived and imagined, and what the reality is.


First she imagines he is a wild adventurer, taking her to highest romantic towers with breathtaking views.

But in reality, he most often explores digital worlds in video games from the safety of his couch.

And now it's his turn to imagine her finishing up her final theatrical performance of the season to thunderous applause and adoration.

But in reality, she talks at the vagina monologues to a mostly empty dark little room.

Check em out at http://cupidsconundrum.com/

Late Night Tiger

A little late night tiger lurking in the tall grass.

Happy New Year! Chinese Fireworks!

A photo of real Chinese fireworks taken in the city of Chengdu in Scechuan province, China.  A great place to visit if you haven't been.  Food, culture, people.  Awesome.  Happy New Year!

SF Skyline

Here's a San Francisco Skyline painting I did recently in Photoshop.

Cupid's Conundrum Promo Ticket

This is a little promo art I did for a small independent film.  A ticket to hand out front and back.

Glamour Pin Up Girl

Pencil on paper life drawing.

The Many Sides of Witch Hazel

Witch Hazel is one of my all time favorites.  The nimble footed yet large female villain was created and directed by the legendary Chuck Jones.  When Witch Hazel is accidentally turned beautiful, with one of her own potions, she is based on the beautiful real life voice actress, June Foray.

Notice the backgrounds and colors.  Some amazing, creative, and interesting visuals in Witch Hazel cartoons.

Check out these two cartoons featuring this amazing witch.  Bewitched Bunny and Broomstick Bunny.

Pin Up Hottie

Another life drawing practice piece, a classic styled pin up girl.  Pencil on paper.

The shapely female form.

Demon Painting

I love Frank Frazetta's incredible fantasy art.  He inspired me to create one of my own.  A demon demi-god being confronted by a lone warrior.  These are just a few character from an idea I've been developing.  Digital painting done in Photoshop.

Hot Pin Up Babe, Tribute to Alberto Vargas

Pin-up girls!

I just discovered Alberto Vargas (2/9/1896-12/30/1982)!  A Peruvian painter who moved to the U.S. where he became well known and respected for his paintings of smoking hot American babes.  He worked for several magazines most notably Esquire and Playboy, and is also well remembered for his WWII era babes with patriotic fever.  I've always loved his work, and only recently realized who he is.  A fantastic discovery!

This is a pencil drawing pin up babe of one of Vargas' classics.  A little life drawing for a warmup.

Some of the artists that influenced Vargas are Raphael Kirchner (1876-1917) and Maurice Milliere (1871-1946).  All three deserve a google search and some time to browse their great bodies of work. Enjoy!

Walt Disney Animation Quote of the Day

"Animation offers a medium of story telling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world."

-Walt Disney

Warmup Work

Practice makes good, because nobody's perfect.

Several warmups in multiple mediums.

A little pencil life drawing.

 This is a great exercise, paint a movie still in a smallish amount of time.   Drawn from 300.

This one's a pen and ink of the alien queen (or queen xenomorph).  I gave her a very designy makeover in this one, in a medium that has no eraser.

Marc Davis Animation Quote of the Day!

Maleficent by Marc Davis.

A legendary animator, incredible draftsman, and one of Disney's Nine Old Men, Marc Davis is a hall of fame artist in the field of animation.  He was quoted in the book "Illusion of Life" on the loss of Walt Disney.  It's a little window into that historic studio, and the world Walt created.



"Animation is just an incredible medium, and...it's just waiting for another great leader...and it will be equally great.  And yet, there's something that came out of the Disney point of view, this business of bringing things to life..."



Of course, there can never be another Walt, but today we may have a new type of leader in animation with a similar vision, fearlessness, and a sensibility for entertainment, John Lasseter.  With what he has done at Pixar, and now the greater Disney, it is easy to arguably say that he is a real life answer to this quote by Marc Davis.  The worlds that he has helped create, the atmosphere, the ease of just letting go and being engulfed in the movies he has created is definitely an echo of the old Disney style.  They make you feel something, they bring it alive and make you care about it.

Jeffery Katzenberb (Dreamworks CEO, and former Disney Chairman in the early 90's) deserves an honorable mention here.

Deinonychus Drawings

This is a little preview of some key 'bad guys' in my kids book.

One of the fiercest dinosaurs ever, pronounced (die-NAH-nih-cuss) which translates as terrible claw and lived in the Western US during the late Cretaceous (121-98 million years ago).

Here is a pair of young male deinonychus posturing in full mating plumage.

Deinonychus could grow up to 5 feet tall, 12 feet long, and 165 pounds.  Not the biggest dinosaur, but with more than 60 sharp teeth, a 5 inch claw on each foot, and a sturdy agile body that allowed this flightless bird-like predator to attack prey much larger than itself in a variety of ways. This dinosaur was one tough costumer!  It could jump onto it's prey, balance with it's tail to kick and turn on a dime, had fantastic senses far beyond our own, and had an enlarged brain in the 'social' area which means this dino was most likely a smart pack hunter and a caring parent.  It's bone structure tells us that this animal was a close cousin to the dinosaurs that evolved into modern birds, and was most likely feathered.  Like birds of today, deinonychus may have had brightly colorful feather patterns for camouflage and/or attracting a mate;)

This is a big female deinonychus.  Like female birds today, they often have more neutral colors than the boys.  Here she is surrounded by her chicks, in protect mode.

Labor Day! Honors Winsor McCay!

Today is an American holiday.  Animation is an American art form; created and developed right here in America.  In honor of such hard work and patriotism, I'm bringing out the first animated short from a man later known as 'the father of animation', none other than Winsor McCay, and his 1911 piece "Little Nemo".

All animation people should know his work.  Winsor McCay's work started animation off at such a high level of excellence, we must strive to follow in his footsteps and keep this unique art form in the highest levels of artistry and fun.

Most people have seen parts of Winsor McCay's next animated short, "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914).  A must for dinosaur and animation lovers alike.  Or anybody like likes cool stuff.

Amazing artist, incredible draftsman!

Here's a little taste of his incredible traditional work.