Nate Wragg Art and Illustration

Something from the Vault

2012-02-02T15:40:00.001-08:00

While I finish up various other projects and a few long overdue paintings, I thought I'd post a piece I recently re-discovered when going through some old paintings. This was done for a show I was a part of in San Diego in 2009. It's pretty simple : Floating brain in a robot suit meet's little red bird.

One the way to work
5" x 7"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2009

Jim Flora Tribute

2012-01-27T13:59:00.001-08:00

Jim Flora is easily of my favorite artists of all time. His style has been a heavy influence on the animation industry for years and years. I've always loved his amazing balance between graphic design and story telling. His illustrations jump off the page with so much life. Above is my next submission for the Jim Flora tribute on the collaborative illustration blog Illostribute.com . I wanted to play off a big style key often seen in Flora's work. Limited & contrasting colors, and a two sided story of a characters good times and bad times.

High's & Lows
Digital
7" x 7"
Jim Flora Tribute
2012

Art Show Tonite

2012-01-20T09:28:00.001-08:00

Tonite in LA, I'll be contributing to an Art Show inspired by classic Kung Fu Legends & Myths re-imagined by Author Ryan Gattis. My Piece is shown above, and nn total there are 16 different artists each contributing one piece to this show as well. The show opens tonite at Gallery Meltdown 7522 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles and runs for a couple of weeks.

For more info on the show, Author Ryan Gattis, and the other contributing artists, click HERE

Painting Above
God Of War
16" x 12"
Black Ink & Paper Collage
2012

Movie Poster Show

2012-01-12T02:05:00.000-08:00

A little while back I was asked to participate in a Movie Poster Show where every piece entered into the show is a poster inspired by a feature film. For my contribution to the show I thought I'd put a darker "Saul Bass-esque" take on one of my favorite films of all time, Dumb & Dumber. For my concept, I thought I'd focus on the moment when Harry & Loyd find their dead parakeet Peety with his head cut off.

As for the show, it's in Brazil, so it's a bit too far for me to attend, but for more info on the exhibition and to see some of the other contributing artists, head over to POSTER LAB and have a look.

Dumb & Dumber Poster
18" x 12"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2012

Cereal Box Paintings

2012-01-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Last year I was asked if I would design and paint a couple of Yeti & Sasquatch themed fake cereal box covers. Being a huge fan of vintage cereal box design I thought it would be a fun little project to take on. I referenced and took inspiration from classic cereal box designs for this project and below is what I ended up with. Both paintings are a combination of Acrylic Paint and Paper Collage and measure 20" x 16".

Abominable Frostbites. I had previously done a Yeti Cereal Box design a few years back and thought I'd use the same name, but created a new overall design for this painting.

Big Foot's Camper Crunch. This one was a completely new concept.

There are a few of my preliminary paintings I did when I was just conceptualizing the characters. They are pretty similar to previous Yeti & Sas designs I've done, but I still wanted to mix them up a little for these Cereal Box paintings.

Happy Holidays!!!

2011-12-23T13:03:00.001-08:00

Here's the card my wife Crystal and I put together this year. Since we normally dress like elves the entire month of December, we thought it would be fitting to showcase our "Yuletide" fashion on our card. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Jolly Dragon

2011-12-22T17:11:00.001-08:00

The Sound Of Light

2011-11-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

A while back I was asked to create a few paintings for the amazing composer Michael Giacchino who did the music for LOST. The concept was to paint the connection that lived between the music and the show. Being not only a HUGE fan of the show, but also a BIG admirer of Giacchino's work the request was a dream job. As the concept developed, I really wanted to showcase the "moment from the show" as if it were a play, with the orchestra filling out the edges of the scene and fading away into black. The music is such an important part of the show, that I wanted the orchestra to feel as though they are part of the cast and set, playing in the scene with the characters from the show. For style I kept the characters in silhouette to create a "likeness" of who was there in the scene, but with the idea to focus more on the "moment from the show" rather then illustrated caricatures of the cast. I kept the color pallet simple, kept the lighting bold and took inspiration from Mary Blair's island paintings from Peter Pan.

The Sound of Light
29" x 12"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2011

Wedding Aniversary Gift

2011-11-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a painting I recently did as a Wedding Anniversary Gift for a couple who met in London.

8" x 10"
Acrylic / Paper Collage
2011

TODAY...Live Demo and Q & A!

2011-09-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

Motivarti has asked me to be a apart of their on going "An Afternoon With" artist Lecture and Demo series. Join us as I'll be discussing my career in the animation industry, my personal projects and children’s books. I'll also be discussing approach to character design and visual storytelling.

The event will take place at Gallery Nucleus on Sunday the 16th of October at 1pm and will run till 4:30 - 5pm. To Pre-Purchase your tickets to this event at a discounted rate click HERE . Tickets will also be available at the door at full price.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this type Motivarti event or would like more info on the event you can visit the event page HERE

The four-hour event includes:

- a one-hour lecture with Q&A on my career, my thoughts on creating art, and my approach to storytelling

- a two-hour collage demo, in which I'll be creating an original fine art piece

- a raffle of the original artwork created during my demo

-an opportunity to purchase a limited-edition, numbered and signed print, which I've created exclusively for Motivarti for this event

- an artist meet-and-greet, with print signing

So there's the run down on the whole event. Come out if you can, it's gonna be a lot of fun.

**The Piece shown above will be available as a limited edition print for this event. The print will be signed and numbered.

Forstbite Blues

2011-09-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a limited edition print that's going out with the Frostbite toys.

Online Workshop with CGMW

2011-08-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to mention that I recently recorded an online demo / workshop for the website CGMW. The workshops runs just over two hours and in it, I go through my process of how I go about designing characters for animation. From start to finish I show my process, from starting with doodles and character concept sketches to final paint. If you wanna check it out, or dig up more information on this workshop, you can visit the site HERE and check it out.

I should also add that there are other really cool workshops and online classes taught through CGMW, so if you have a minute, take a look HERE to see what elese they have on their site.

As for me posting more artwork here on this blog, I'm officially back from vacation now, so I'll get to posting stuff ASAP.

LOCALS : New Artwork

2011-06-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

The last few of my pieces for my solo exhibition LOCALS at Gallery Nucleus are now online. If you wanna have a look, you can find them HERE .

Pieces seen above are Local Neighborhood Watch & Local Upper

New Print - Sasquatch Summer

2011-06-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out to my show this past weekend, and to everyone who checked it out online. The show was a blast and it was great getting to meet all of you who turned up. If you haven't seen the show yet, you can check it out HERE On Gallery Nucleus's Website.

"Sasquatch Summer" is a new print of mine that debuted at the show, and now you can find it HERE , it's also avaliable online and in the store at Gallery Nuclues.

I'll also be debuting a few more pieces from my LOCALS exhibition. These were peieces that were not finished in time for the show, but are making their way to the gallery this Monday, so if you are interested, contact Nucleus, and you can see these pieces before they go online.

And lastly, My new limited edition toy "Frostbite" will be making his way here to the blog and my online store on Monday, so there will be more information on him then, so stay tuned.

Gallery Show Opening - Tonite!

2011-06-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, Just wanted to put out a final word on the opening of my solo exhibition : LOCALS. The opening is tonite from 7pm to 11pm. Included in the show is all new artwork, plus I'm debuting my brand new limited edition toy : Frostbite. I'll post pics of him here tomorrow, but if you wanna see him tonite, come on out to Gallery Nucleus, he'll be waiting.

Local Poet and his One Man Band
12" x 8"
Mixed Media on Wood
2011

For sale now at Gallery Nucleus

Gallery Show Update

2011-06-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, sorry for the slow posting season, been sooooo busy it's been crazy, but there is a lot coming up so I'll kick off the first of many posts with some info on my up coming art show.

Gallery Nucleus has put together a "Catch A Critter" contest in support of my up coming Solo Art Show : LOCALS. Basically the cards you see above have been specially created for this contest. Each card has a number on the back, and on specific dates next week leading up to my show, Gallery Nucleus will announce 10 winning numbers on the Nucleus Blog, Facebook, and Twitter promptly at NOON (PST). If one of the winning numbers matches your Critter #, contact Gallery Nucleus immediately: 626-458-7477. The first person to call us will be awarded the prize of that given day. The prizes include some of my prints and other things too. You can get these cards directly from Gallery Nucleus, you can also find them at select places throughout Los Angeles such as Golden Apple on Melrose, Meltdown Comics, and the Secret Headquarters while supplies last.

For all the details and prize selection dates for the "Catch a Critter Contest" check out the Gallery Nucleus Blog Post HERE

&

For more info on my upcoming show LOCALS, check out the Exhibition Page HERE

Stay tuned as next week as I'll be posting more info and details about the show right here.

Monster Parade Print Set

2011-05-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

A while back I was asked to be apart of a special edition print set, honoring and including the ever amazing Ed Emberley. As I've posted here before, Ed Emberely is one of my biggest artistic inspirations of all time and once again he kicked ass! His contribution to the print set is both charming and spectacular! The driving force behind the whole set was the awesome David Huyck and this special edition set can be purchased over at the one and only Cloudy Collection . The cast of contributing artists is top notch, so check out the set if you have any intrests in spooky monster parades!

Above is my conribution to the collection.

Working, Working, Working

2011-04-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on two really fun paintings right now that I'll show here in a week or two, but for now, I'll brush the dust off this blog a little and give a sneak peek of something else I'm working on that's coming down the pipeline. More to come.

Concert Poster - Guster

2011-01-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a concert poster I recently did for the band "Guster."

Come Home Soon

2010-11-10T15:40:00.001-08:00

Here is another commission painting I recently finished. This is a concept that's been kicking around in my head for some time now, in fact, I had originally intended to include this idea in the Ancient Book of Sex and Science, but thought the horizontal format wouldn't work to well with the book format we used. Anyways, since we'll all be living and working in space sometime in the next few years, I thought I'd explore the concept of how in the future, one might try to distract their lover into coming home early from work.

Come Home Soon
19" x 15"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2010

Store Closing...for a little while

2010-11-09T14:00:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone, my artwork and print store will be closing for a few weeks starting in the middle of this month. The store will officially close down on the morning of the 18th of November and will re open on the 1st of January in the New Year.

All orders must be placed no later then Wednesday night the 17th of November if you would like to receive any prints / artwork before the holidays.

Thanks everyone for stopping by, sorry for this boring note, and now for more artwork!

Best,
Nate

Art Blocks For Ghana

2010-11-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece I recently did for "Art Blocks for Ghana." Presented by The Picture Book Project Foundation and The Hopkins Foundation, "Art Blocks For Ghana" is a Charity Art Auction Created by the Top Artists in the Animation and Illustration Community to help build a Children's Home in Ghana. Below is a little more info about the Picture Book Project:

The Picture Book Project Foundation is a 501 c3 non-profit organization that gives artists and art enthusiasts a way to help and inspire children in need. Our mission is to bring continued resources and support to orphaned and underserved children around the world, while extending the talent and good will of the artist community to communities of children in need. see www.picturebookproject.com for more info.

The theme for this particular art auction was "Home." I've always loved the fact that Trolls supposedly live under bridges, so in keeping with the theme, I thought I'd paint up a little Troll home.

If you wanna check out the rest of the Art Blocks that have been painted for this charity art auction, check out the BLOG showcasing all the artwork that's been created so far.

Under The Bridge
6" x 6"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2010

Illostribute - Norman Saunders

2010-10-25T15:03:00.001-07:00

Here is my next submission for the collaborative illustration blog Illostribute.com . The idea is to honor master illustrators and fine artists by investigating their work, through interpretation. After researching the chosen artists work, each contributing illustrator is to respond by creating their own piece of art, inspired by the work of the referenced artist.

The master illustrator that was selected for this months submissions was the amazing pulp cover artist Norman Saunders. His work is fun, dangerous, and a bit racy, and you can read more about him HERE. My thought process behind the piece I did, was first and foremost to try and capture the spirit of what Mr. Saunders did so well in his work, showcasing an intriguing preview of the novel as cover art. I wanted to layer my piece with compelling story elements including danger, lust, conflict, romance, murder, espionage, ect. Pretty much everything that you could find in Mr. Saunders work, I wanted to try and include in mine.

As far as style went, I wanted to keep my piece strong and bold. I chose a very limited color pallet and simple graphic style. I didn't want to get bogged down with multiple color choices for clothing, hair, and background elements, I wanted it to be simple. Lady in white (hero) man in black (villain) and a messy textured red background to help showcase the feeling of the blood and danger encompassing this illustration. This piece was painted with a combination of acrylic paint and paper collage. The piece shown above includes typography and printing effects created in photoshop. The piece below is what the actual original illustration looks like. This original painting is available for purchase in the store HERE. .

Original Painting

Human Sheild
8" x 10"
Acrylic / Paper Collage
2010

Below is a collection of some of Mr. Saunders work, which I referenced for my painting inspired by his work.

Intergalactic Dance Party

2010-10-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here is another commissioned painting I finished a little while back. The theme for this piece was to showcase the retro dance moves known as the "Batusi" in a painting in what ever way I wanted to. So, seeing as how the "Batusi" was popular back in the 60's, I thought I'd explore a Sci-Fi / GoGo Dancer concept for this piece. Ultimately I ended up with one sweet intergalactic Batusi dance party. My guess is these Astronaut GoGo Dancers were looking for a nice planet or asteroid to practice their space dance moves on, and while doing so, they encountered some aliens looking to bust-a-move too.

Just above is a small comp I did to help plan the colors and textures for the piece. The Aliens suits are made with Aluminum Foil collage while and the GoGo Dancers space dresses are collaged from Glitter Ribbon. To mix those two elements, with other paper collage elements and acrylic paint was a fun challenge, and in the end, really added some fun texture and depth to the original piece.

Intergalactic Dance Party
11" x 17"
Acrylic / Paper Collage / Aluminum Foil / Glitter Ribbon
2010

Mini Comp Painting
4" x 4"
Acrylic / Paper Collage / Aluminum Foil / Glitter Ribbon
2010

Ray LaMontagne Concert

2010-10-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last month, I surprised my wife Crystal with concert tickets to see one of our favorite singer / song writers of all time, RAY LaMONTAGNE . To say she was excited to go to the show is a huge understatement, and to say I was excited would be another understatement too. We had a great time, and like most amazing performers, hearing his music live was truly inspiring. I think both Crystal and I could agree that his music is definitely in our all time top 10.

And while I love attending concerts, I also really love concert poster design. I've always loved seeing artists interpret other artists through different artistic mediums, and concert poster design takes the cake for me in that department. So I thought I would throw a little something together to help remember the show (just like I did for the "She & Him" concert we went to earlier this summer) so I made this little "mock" concert poster. I let my self be inspired by the music, and the experience at the show to better help me create the artwork for this tribute poster. The original painting for this is also available in my online art store HERE . The piece does not include any of the type/text, just the art used to create the poster.

Sasquatch Strum
14" x 9 1/2"
Acrylic / Paper Collage / Burlap
2010

Currently Working On...

2010-10-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

A project involving these two. More to come soon.

Process : Dinosaur Train

2010-09-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Started the piece out with this little thumbnail sketch. At this stage I'm mostly thinking of shape, concept and composition, so I keep things really rough to maintain a simple, easy read.

Next I cut the illustration board to size, tape off the edges, and lay down the base color for the background.

Next I painted the base color for the main ground. If I can't find the exact color I'm looking for in paper collage, I'll paint the color I need on water color paper, then cut it to fit the BG. That's what I did in this case to make the hill.

Next, before I cut out and glued the train tracks to the base hill, I painted the rocks in that are usually below train tracks. Then I glued on the paper collage train tracks and added two more levels of hills with more acrylic paint on watercolor paper.

Next, it was time to begin laying in the different levels of flowers and plants. I cut these out of Acrylic on water color paper and magazine pages. I then did a light color wash over the hills to darken them a bit, and to add a little more blue to them. Plus I painted in the small flowers covering the hill the train will be on.

This is just a photo I took of the collection of paper scraps I gathered to begin to construct the train and the dinosaurs ridding in the train.

beginning to glue and lay out the shapes for the train.

Next, adding more detail to the train, adding in the sun, and a little hobo snake friend cruising through the grass, maybe looking to hitch a ride.

Next, a combination of painting in the various Dinosaurs on the BG with Acrylic paint and some paper collage elements, while adding more bits and pieces of detail to the train.

Almost done, adding on the eyes and various detail to each of the dinosaurs like hankerchiefs, conductor hats, and smiles.

Lastly, the finished piece. I added the little boy last. He was also a combo of Acrylic paint on the Background and paper collage elements. Added in the birds, the train bell, and smoke coming from the trains engine.

The piece above was done as a commission a little while back for a little kids room. The little guy loves Dinosaurs and Trains (who could have guessed right?)

When I was growing up, I LOVED Dinosaurs, so getting the chance to paint some Dino art for a new fan of Dinosaurs was really fun for me, I had a blast with this painting. I also documented a bit of my process on this one, below are a few scans and photos I took in various stages of completing the piece.

Dinosaur Train
8" x 12"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2010

Illostribute - John Held Jr

2010-08-16T15:43:00.001-07:00

Here is my next submission for the collaborative illustration blog Illostribute.com . The idea is to honor master illustrators and fine artists by investigating their work, through interpretation. After researching the chosen artists work, each contributing illustrator is to respond by creating their own piece of art, inspired by the work of the referenced artist.

The second master illustrator that was selected for this project was the ever inspiring John held Jr. His work is fun and timeless, and you can read more about him HERE , and below I've posted a few of his pieces which I referenced for my inspired painting.

In referencing John Held Jr's work, I fell in love with his simple use of shape, space, character and story. I love the way he focuses on illustrating what's important to the illustration, while removing everything that is un-necessary from the concept. A perfect example is his piece with the kids playing miniature golf. Only the kids, golf clubs, and graphic sections of the putting green are illustrated, and everything else in the scene is left out. Graphically I find this to be a really bold and interesting way of depicting such a scene, and that's what I found my self inspired by.

In my piece I started with two simple rectangles, one yellow, and one brown. Adding the window, the checkered boxes, and the two red dots on the yellow rectangle on the left, helped me convert an otherwise boring yellow space into a graphic and stylized representation of a taxi cab. Adding in the characters to the piece now tells the story of a man in a taxi cab pulling up next to a lady walking down the street. Finally I played on the way the old "Life" magazines often referenced the word "Number" in their title for each issue. In the few I looked at, the titles read "Radio Number" & "Automobile Number," so to help sell the concept of my piece, I titled mine "Getting Her Number" as a reference to what the man in the taxi cab's reason was for approaching the woman on the street.

Getting Her Number
6" x 8"
Digital
2010
Piece inspired by John Held Jr.

Yeti Swap

2010-08-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite artists / designers working today is Don Clark, half of the amazing Clark duo that makes up the awesome Seattle based Invisible Creature Design/Illustrations Shop. If you are in need of some inspiration and would like to see some awesome design work, swing by and check out their killer site.

As for the trade, a long time ago, Don and I decided that because we both share an equal love for the Legendary Ice Beast that is the Yeti, that we would partake in a ceremonial trading of the Yeti's. Below you can see my contribution to the swap on the left, and on the right, is Don's Bad Ass contribution to the trade, which hangs proudly in my home studio.

My concept for the trade was simply letting the Yeti and some of his cold weather friends take a bit of a break from the snow to enjoy some drinks and much needed sunshine.

Next Year - Swap of the Sasquatch! Can't wait.

A closer look

Don's Yeti:
Freddy Mushyeti
17" x 23"
Digital
2010

My Yeti:
A Break from the Snow
10" x 16"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2010

I'm featured on WIRED in Italy

2010-08-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

A little while back, the Italian branch of the magazine WIRED asked me if they could post some of my work in one of their online artist galleries. The artists they are showcasing are pretty diverse, so it's a cool place to see a wide range of work. Here is the LINK to see the work, and since I don't speak Italian, I'm not really sure what they are saying about it, hopefully it's good.

The piece above:
3-Desire The Night
featured in the Ancient Book of Sex And Science
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2009

Good Cop , Bad Cop

2010-08-04T14:05:00.001-07:00

Just a little painting for a little fun!

Good Cop, Bad Cop
Acrylic & Paper Collage
5" x 5"
2010

She & Him Concert

2010-07-23T15:34:00.001-07:00

Recently my wife Crystal and I went to the She & Him concert here in L.A. at the Hollywood Bowl and it was awesome. Joined at the concert by our good friend Sam Marin, we are huge fans of the band and it was a blast getting to see them perform live. She ( Zoe ) sang great, and Him (M.Ward) killed it on the guitar. Anyways, I really love concert poster design, so I thought I would throw a little something together to help remember the show, so I made this little "mock" concert poster. I kept this poster simple, and just drew the simple caricatures of the band from memory. My hope is from here on out, every show Crystal and I go to, I'm gonna try and make a little tribute concert poster to go along with the memories.

Ed Emberley Tribute

2010-07-14T12:37:00.001-07:00

Growing up, I didn't know it, but Ed Emberley was one of my favorite artists. As a kid I had several of his books, and I have to say he was one of my first artistic inspirations. I used to love to draw from his books, follow the steps, use all the fun shapes, and adding all the detail at the end was my favorite part. One of the things I love about Ed Emberley's work is the way he designed his characters off such simple shapes. It's one of the first things that I think we all learn and do as designers when we are working on a character design, or thinking about structuring a layout drawing for a background. Start simple, and play with simple shapes to help vary your design, then go from there. Anyways, even though I haven't thought of Ed Emberely's work for a little while, his whimsical design principles thankfully are permanently burned into my brain and it wasn't until I saw this post on Cartoon Brew today about a gallery showcasing some work as a tribute to him, that I stopped to take a look back at his work, and reflect on the influence his style and artwork had on me as a young artist.

I'm not part of the gallery opening, but I felt compelled today to illustrate a Sasquatch inspired by Emberley's style ( shown above ) and in true Emberley fashion, I illustrated the steps on how to draw this particular Sasquatch. For anyone who either wants to follow the steps bellow, or has kids who would like to create this Sasquatch from the steps below, go for it! and email me a scan of your piece and I'll post it here on my blog. My only request for those interested would be to follow the steps on real paper with marker, pencil or preferably crayon!

Two great artisists in Trip Park and Amy Mebberson showed their love for Mr. Emberley's work by contributing to this post with their awesome work below.

Here are a few images of Embereley's amazing work I grabbed off the internet. To read more about him click HERE , or head over HERE to buy his books online.

Interview on Sketchaholic.com

2010-07-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was interviewed by the great Bobby Chiu on his website Sketchoholic.com . Some of the things covered in the interview was my character design contribution to the new film Toy Story 3. If you wanna check out the interview you can see it HERE . For those of you who are new to the Sketchoholic website, here is a little run down of what you can expect to find there:

Sketchoholic.com is where animation artist Bobby Chiu broadcasts live interviews with artists in the animation, film and illustration industry and asks them to share their thoughts and beliefs about art. On other occasions, Bobby also conducts contests where he paints live and encourages people to paint along with him. Winning submissions wins some original art. The site is free to join, just head HERE to do so.

Bobby had asked me to hold a short contest of my own as well for my interview. My contest was to draw/design/create a "Wall Street Cyclops" basically a Cyclops investment banker. The submissions into the contest were awesome! Everyone really blew me away with how many unique, fun and creative ways they apporached the design challenge. You can see the submissions on the page Bobby set up for my interview HERE .

All in all, Bobby has set up a really fun and informative website at Sketchoholic.com. There are tons of great interviews that can be found all over the site with some of the most talented and inspiring artists working today. And in addition to all the great interviews on the site, the drawing/design contests that Bobby holds on the site are a particular favorite of mine, as I love spontaneous character design challenges.

Below is my good friend Austin Madison's contribution to the contest, I just love the putting green and the blue tooth ear piece!

Details on my piece below

Wall Street Cyclops
5" x 7"
Acrylic, Paper Collage & Cold Hard Cash
2010

Toy Story 3

2010-06-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Now that Toy Story 3 has been released, I thought I'd post some of the character design work I did on the film. Working on the film as a character designer was a dream come true for me. I came on early on the project and had an opportunity to work on a whole bunch of different characters which was a blast. I also had the chance to work with a great art team on the film ( Bob Pauley Production Designer, Dice Tsutsumi & Robert Kondo as Art Directors, Craig Foster Graphic Designer ) just to name a few. And I also can't leave out everyone else on the art team all of which were some of the most talented individuals I've ever worked with, and lucky for me, the crew for the entire film was just as awesome.

Daniel Arriaga, Tom Gately, Dan Holland, and Daniela Strijleva rounded out the character art team with me, and they all were not only inspiring to be around, but brought so much enegry and creativity to the character design process of the film, that it was just exciting to be around. Lee Unkrich our director was awesome as was our Producer Darla Anderson. I also have to tip my hat to the entire TS3 story team, they really paved the way for us character designers to have a ton of fun and really succeed. I can't remember all their names, but their team really set the tone for the movie, and their creativity and character/story concepts are behind every character you see in the film. They all did a spectacular job.

While I worked on more than you'll see here, I thought I'd post some stuff from the characters that were not only new original characters to the franchise, but ones I had the most influence on. Below is a collection of some of the work I did for the film.

Mr. PRICKLEPANTS

Mr. Pricklepants was one of the first characters I had the chance to work on. When I first came on to the show, I was assigned to begin working out the designs for Bonnie's toys. Pricklepants being the esteemed actor and thespian that he was, he was hilarious from day one and he definitely stole the show in the story boards which made my job as a designer pretty easy. As far as his design goes, I thought of him as sort of a stocky little bean bag toy you might find in an airport or something. Below are a few other sketches I did while exploring his bean bag/gum drop shape, style, and outfits.

BUTTERCUP

Buttercup is another one of Bonnie's toys. Most of the work that went into Buttercups design was to try and make him the cutest little unicorn the universe had ever seen. One thing I thought that was really helpful in working out his design was referencing pictures of real horses to see how they moved. And using that reference to help figure out how much of that natural movement would translate into the movement of a little plush horse. Below you can see some of those sketches I did to help figure out his movement and shape.

I included the sketch below as it was the first sketch I ever did of Buttercup, at one point we thought he might have long flowing hair.

DOLLY

Dolly is another one of Bonnie's toys, and from the first time I started designing on here, Lee always thought of here has a flat little home-made looking doll, so that's where we started. In the early stages she looked as she is above. I wanted her to be the perfect definition of a cute little girl, so I referenced pictures of my wife when she was little (as she was seriously the cutest little girl their ever was) and put a lot of her into my design. I always thought of her as having cute little pattern dresses and her hair parted to one side with stylized little bangs and maybe a bow or bumble bee hair clip. Below are a few more variations I did on working out differences in her hair style and dress patterns and colors.

CHUCKLES

Chuckles was another character that really stole the show in the story boards. The artist who boarded him, really nailed the "worn out clown toy" look, so I just followed his lead and tried not to screw up his concept. Chuckles was a blast to work on, because in the film he's so broken, so down, and the fact that he's a clown just always came across as so dark to me and I couldn't help but fall in love with his character. Below are a few sketches I did on his movement, which should really just be called a "waddle." And a few other early concepts of his look.

One thing that was particularly challenging about working on him, as were a few of the other bad guys was, these toys weren't made to look evil, creepy, or mean, so we had to design them with the concept that they were made to look cute and fun as you would buy them in the store, but could have the proper look that could give them the dark edge they would need as characters.

THE ROBOT

The Robot was a character that was originally in Bonnie's group, but didn't end up making the cut. I worked on him for a while, and the concept behind his design was that he was a cute little battery operated learning robot. Below are a few other takes I had on him.

OTHER BONNIES TOYS CONCEPTS

For a while, we played with the thought that Bonnie might either be making some of her own toys, or simply just have some hand made toys. These were particularly fun to work on as I just had a blast drawing a whole bunch of funny little hand made characters. I thought it might be particularly fun to play up their hand made feel by making them noticeably un-even in their design which I also thought played up their charm and silliness.

We also played with concepts of her having toys that were possibly shaped as veggies, fruits, or deserts.

Two characters I pined for were the tooth and the Popsicle. I thought of the Tooth as maybe something she got from her first visit to the dentist and the Popsicle just a funny little hand made craft guy made of felt and Popsicle sticks. To me they seemed like the perfect odd couple, the Tooth disliking the Popsicle for his carelessness when it came to health and sweets and all things responsible, and the Popsicle just being the sweet life of the party with not a care in the world.

Below are a few other quick sketches of hand made/craft toys Bonnie may have either made or just had lying around.

STRETCH

Stretch was one of the first characters I worked on in Lotso's Gang. It was fun to get to design a bad guy for a change, and it was also fun because his design evolved for a little while thought the process of finding out what type of character he would be. I originally thought it would be funny if he was some sort of water toy 9 thus the silly little sailor hat above ) but we ended up ditching that, and pushing him to a creepier design as seen below.

below are a few other sketches and passes at different variations of his face both happy and mean.

THE LIBRARIAN

Below are some sketches I did as we were trying to figure out what type of light up worm would he be. I have a painted final design and quick sculpt I did which I'll post tomorrow once I find them. But for now you can see the beginning part of the process with him.

THE "METAL HEAD" GARBAGE MAN

I didn't really get a chance to work on any of the humans in the film, except for the bad ass head banging garbage guy. Not too much work went into his design process, we tried to keep him pretty generic, but accessorize him with everything a metal head would need to be jamming out while picking up the trash. For a short assignment, I had a fun time sketching him in his head banging ways.

ANDY'S ROOM GRAPHICS

One of my first assignments on the film was to begin to develop some stickers / posters that teenage Andy might have in his room. Not sure if any of these made it into the final design of his room, but none the less, I had fun making some skateboarding stickers and graphics so I thought I'd share a few.

J.C. Leyendecker

2010-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to participate in the new blog Illostribute.com . Illostribute is a new collaborative illustration blog, conceived and edited by illustrator & artist Toby Thane Neighbors . The idea is to honor master illustrators (and occasionally fine artists) by seriously investigating their work, through interpretation.

The first master artist that was selected for this project was the amazing J.C. Leyendecker. His work is beautiful and elegant, and you can read more about him HERE , and below I've posted a few of his pieces which I referenced for my inspired painting.

As for my piece inspired by Leyendecker's work, what I focused on was his bold graphic concept of letting everything in black fall away, only relying on lighter objects in the piece to tell the story in the painting. I love how limited yet very descriptive this technique is that he occasionally used and so I thought I'd explore that concept in my piece inspired by his work.

Drinks With Leyendecker
Acrylic & Paper Collage
8" x 10"
2010

Guilty Insomniac

2010-06-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here is my contribution to this weeks Chades Challenge hosted over at Austin Madison's Blog . I like to think of Racoons as little insomniacs, and clearly he's been up all night, and caught red handed

Skeletor Vs. Sock Monkey

2010-06-16T09:56:00.001-07:00

Here is a piece I recently did for an up coming art show "It's not a Doll, it's an Action Figure!" at the Bear and the Bird Gallery in Lauderhill Florida. The show opens this Saturday the 19th with an opening reception party that night from 7pm - 10pm. This was a fun and outrageous piece to paint, it was nice to finally get to illustrate stuffed animal guts with pink yarn...it's been too long. The concept behind the piece was basically when an action figure reaches his breaking point, how would they handle their anger when it boils over into a fight with a doll.

Skeletor Vs. Sock Monkey
11" x 14"
Mixed Media
2010

The Moonlight Roller Boys

2010-06-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months my wife and I have begun going to this local rollerskating rink in Burbank know as "The Moonlight Roller Rink" and while I can say roller skating to a bunch of random music with your friends is fun, what clearly makes the night is getting to check out all the local talent polishing up their skating skills. So with every trip to the rink, I'm gonna start chronicling the trips with a few sketches of some of the awesome skaters we've encountered the night before.

"The Ref"
This guy is the police of the roller rink hardwood. He doesn't mess around with making sure people obey moonlight protocol and keep it clean and fun in the rink. His attire includes an xx small ref jersey, extra tight jeans featuring his bulging crotch, two cell phones and a blue tooth head phone devise to keep it hands free on the hardwood. He provided us with the quote of the night which my wife over heard him saying to one of his buddies (no joke):

"People think my job isn't serious, but guess what, I take is very seriously, if there is a dropped sweatshirt or a spilt beverage in the rink, that could be a death on the floor!"

"The Punisher"
Dressed in all black and red in the face and covered in bulging veins, this guy skates with the heat intensity of a thousand hells. He never smiles, never laughs, doesn't enjoy the music, only punishes him self to get better by skating until his soul bleeds and forces him to stop. No quote from this guy, because he doesn't speak, he just skates and creeps everyone out.

More to come following the next trip to the rink...

New Original Paintings and Prints in the store

2010-06-10T01:23:00.000-07:00

So I've been so busy that it's been a while since I've had the chance to update the Store , so I've finally taken the time to remedy that and now there are a few new original paintings and signed prints available. I've got a lot of new pieces I'm working on that should also make their way into the store sooner than later. If you haven't checked out my artwork and print shop you can either click the link above, or click the yeti Icon over on the right side of the page.

More stuff coming soon, seems like this is fast becoming a busy month here on the blog.

Totty

2010-06-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

I've been going through a bunch of older stuff that I haven't gotten around to posting yet, so here is something from the pile. A long time ago I designed a Tater Tot Elf for Sonic Drive-In Restaurants, so here are the fun and wacky drawings I did... above is the final design, below are some rough concepts and a BG to place the character on.

It's Alive...& Dangerous!

2010-06-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece that I recently contributed to a Sci-Fi podcast/website, once it's featured I'll post a link to the site. It's a piece I created a while back for a gallery show I was a part of in San Diego. The original is Black and White and all Acrylic & Paper Collage, but for this submission, I thought I'd use a little Photoshop magic and add a little color and a few highlights just for fun. In the end it's just your average brain in a robot suit, living and breathing in a lab by day, only to terrorize the city by night.

It's Alive & Dangerous
10" x 8"
Acrylic / Paper Collage / Digital

Chades Challenge - Patriotic Chinchillas

2010-06-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, my good buddy Austin Madison runs a bi weekly character design challenge over on his blog. Every two weeks there is a new concept for a character to design, this time around the challenge was to design Patriotic Chinchillas! And being that my wife and I own the coolest Chinchilla in the world (his name is Wicket) this seemed like a challenge I had to jump in on. Above is my serious contribution to the challenge, it's Wicket showing off his true patriotic spirit, which as my wife can tell you he displays on a daily basis. Below is my stupid contribution to this challenge, you see when my friend Austin creates a stupid hero, I have a strange urge to create an even dumber villain. Austin's contribution to this weeks challenge as seen over on his blog was a "Chinchilla Captain America" and so I thought to my self, what's Captain America with out the "Red Chin-Skulla!" Clearly the bar has been lowered as this is simply an evil brooding Chinchilla with skull face paint, but none the less here's to creating lame super heros Austin!

Patriotic Chin & Red Chin-Skulla
Digital
2010

Good Bye Lost...We'll Miss You

2010-05-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

Unless you live under a very large rock, then you probably know that the amazing TV Series "Lost" has come to an end. Well, it was about two years ago that we got really into the show and needles to say, we have been hooked ever since. It was sometime during last season (season 5 ) that my wife Crystal surprised me with one of my favorite drawings of all time, an awesome sketch of Hurley! As the season went on she gave me several more sketches... John Locke....Miles.... and so with the closure of the show, she gave me a few more sketches for old time sake, I guess as a final send off ....Sawyer (which best illustrates how I feel about the show ending)....

Ben Linus aka Henry Gale aka Snake in the grass .... and who better than "chesty" Frank Lipidus. These are amazing babe, hopefully I can get some more if we ever re-watch the series!

If you haven't seen Lost, check it out!

"Sad Sawyer"
"Ben Linus"
"Chesty Frank Lipidus"
Colored Pencil
Crystal Wragg
2010

Austin Madison Yeti

2010-05-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

One of my good friends Austin Madison (animator extraordinaire) recently contributed this awesome wampa/yeti illustration to my yeti themed home art studio. Since moving into our new place, my wife and I have begun to transform my art studio into our very own yeti cave. I'm beginning to fill my studio space with yeti & sasquatch themed work from some of my favorite artists that inspire me. Austin is a friend who has inspired me from our days back in school at CAL ARTS and probably will continue to do so until the universe explodes.

5:17pm, Tuesday : No Wind & No Friends

2010-05-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Busy, Busy, Busy...while finishing up a bunch of paintings in the works, here is another painting illustrating another isolated afternoon for Sasquatch :(

No Wind & No friends
40" x 6"
Acrylic & Paper Collage
2010

Artwork For A New Book - 3x4

2010-04-02T15:15:00.001-07:00

Here is a piece from an upcoming book I'm contributing to. I'm one of 4 artists involved in this small little side project known as 3 x 4. 3 paintings by 4 artists, and all work inspired by the theme of 3, thus explaining the three eyes on the love hungry space creature above. As for the book, you may have heard of the other guys who are contributing to this project ... Scott Morse, Don Shank & Lou Romano? Well, they are amazing, and the book is shaping up to be a lot of fun. More details and release date info to come.

On a side note, there are still plans for release of The Ancient Book of Monsters and Magic, just not this year. We're all still plugging away at it, and should have it out sometime next year, more details on this in the future as well.

As for the piece above, here are the details:

3 Eyes
10" x 15"
Acrylic, Aluminum Foil & Paper Collage
2010

Toy Story 3 Character Design

2010-03-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

As one of the lead character designers on the up coming Toy Story 3 film, I had my hands full with designing a whole bunch of new toys for the film. Once the film is released I'll post some sketches and go into more detail on the fun I had working on the film and all it's new characters, but for now, since I can't post and sketches yet, I thought I'd post one of the posters that was released for one of the characters I designed. Mr. Pricklepants was probably my favorite character I got to work on and design, here is the poster / render of him that's been released, and I have to say, he pretty much looks exactly like the drawings I did back when I was working on his design. More to come once the film is released.

Space Swingers - Commission Piece

2010-03-22T11:07:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I was asked if I could create a piece much like a previous painting I had done before, it's not something I usually do, but it's always fun to riff on something you may have already done, just to see what you can do to build of a pre-existing concept. So I revisited a piece I did for the "Ancient Book of Sex and Science", the piece was titled "Space Quickie" you can see it HERE on my blog. Basically I ended up just trying to build off of the concept of some people enjoying some sexy time in Space. So above you can see the finished painting, it's a space ship full of astronaut swingers celebrating the discovery of a new alien planet, unfortunately, the alien that they landed their rocket ship on was not invited to the celebration. And he doesn't seem to be too pleased about it!

Space Swingers
10" x 20"
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2010

Flip The Bird - Oregon Art Show

2010-03-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

In April I will be one of four artists teaming up for a bird themed gallery show at The Lunar Boy Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. The show will be titled "Flip the Bird" and will showcase artwork from Ben Adams , Ben Burch , Lou Romano , and my self. The Brains behind the show are two amazing artists by the names of Ben Adams & Ben Burch. It's a show they have both helped put on for the past couple of years and I'm really excited to be apart of this years showcase. One thing that is gonna be really cool about this particular show, is each artist was given one of four seasons to create a layout / sketch for. Then that design is passed out amongst the four other artists, and in the end you have four different takes on four different seasons, each designed by one artist, but painted differently by everyone else participating. The season that I was given to design was Winter, and here is my painting of the layout and bird I designed.

The show is gonna be really fun, and the other artists participating are amazingly inspirational, so if you aren't busy on April 10th, Saturday evening, and you are in and or around the town of Astoria, you should come by the Lunar Boy Gallery and check out the show.

Ice Crane
12" x 12"
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2010

Two Paths - Commission Piece

2010-03-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm swamped with all types of work right now, so I thougth I'd take a quick moment to post one of the more recent commission pieces I've finished. This particular piece was inspired by a poem. The poem describes the choices we all have in life, and in many ways, how some of our desicions can be simplified down into the option of choosing between two different paths to follow.

Two Paths
9" x 15"
Acrylic 7 Paper Collage
2010

Ronald Searle Tribute

2010-02-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked to contribute to a little thank you / tribute book for the amazing cartoonist Ronald Searle. Like most people in animation and cartooning today, Ronald Searles work has had a profound impact on myself as an artist. He's simply one of the best artists ever, and to have a chance to say thanks with a little tribute drawing of my own, I jumped at the chance. Anyways, below is my contribution to the tribute book being put together for him.

If by chance you haven't seen is work, or have never heard of him, just google his name ( Ronald Searle ) and be prepared to be blown away.

Sasquatch & His Bad Habits

2010-02-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

Here is a painting from a series of paintings I did for an upcoming art book I'll be in. More info on the book and it's release date in the future.

Sasquatch Squaller
5"x 12"
Acrylic and Paper Collage
2010

Postcard Auction Benefit

2010-02-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone, I know it's been a little while since my last post, but the drought will not continue anymore as I have a bunch of work I'm finishing up, and will be posting in the next few weeks, one of the posts being a process post showing my painting process in detail.

As for this post, I was asked a few months ago, if I would participate in a postcard auction benefit in hopes of raising money to help build a school for orphans in Freetown, Sierra Leone. I jumped at the chance to help contibute, so here is the postcard I painted on, and below is the link to the blog showcasing all these postcards:

Brownstones to Red Dirt

Plus also below is a little blurb from the blog about what the whole project / auction benefit is all about.

Two colleagues at Blue Sky Studios, David LaMattina and Chad Walker, have created a feature-length documentary about a pen pal program between a group of at-risk sixth graders living in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and orphans from the war living in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This Postcard Art project is an extension of the their film "Brownstones To Red Dirt" which features children from both schools. The kids in both places have inspired us all to want to do more and so we're putting together an art auction of original postcards based around the same central theme of the film in a fundraising effort to build a school for the orphans in Freetown, Sierra Leone and create a library for the youth at their school in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

Yeti Postcard
5" x 3.5"
Acrylic

Happy Holidays

2009-12-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all the best this holiday season.

Mountain Hi
5" x 7"
Acrylic & Collage
2009

She Won't Be Rescued

2009-12-07T11:49:00.001-08:00

Here is my contribution to this weekends upcoming Power in Numbers show at Gallery Nucleus. Tons of great artists, every painting is 5"x7" and everything is selling for $100 bucks! Should be a fun show, check out Gallery Nucleus's website for more info on the event.

She Won't Be Rescued
Acrylic and collage
5" x 7"
2009

Adventures in Autumn - Commision Painting

2009-11-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

Here is a painting I did a little while back as a commissioned piece for a little boy's room. I believe it was a present for the little guys 1st birthday, and all I can say is this has to be the first painting I've ever done for anyones first birthday, really cool. When he learns to talk I'll have to ask him what he thinks, and even then, there is a pretty good chance he may just giggle, burp, or drool, which I'll gladly take any of those as a compliment.

Adventures in Autumn
Acrylic and Collage
10" x 17"
2009

Finally something on time for the holidays

2009-11-16T11:09:00.001-08:00

With the holidays quickly approaching and the weather getting colder I have to say it's one of my favorite times of the year. And usually around this time I love to paint something of the holiday spirit for me and my wifes holiday card, and being an artist, always busy with way too many projects, every year I always seem to feel rushed in doing so. Well finally this year I'm ahead of schedule and that's nice for a change. I had a lot of fun painting this piece and most importantly my wife crystal loves it too, giving me her two cute thumbs up. Of course the yeti is no suprise here, but I thought it would be fun to see him decorated in some holiday cheer. My only hope now is that it prints well on the cards, I've gone through Kodak before and they were great, so all should be good in the end. This piece is also availiable in the store here as a print for those interested, and is going to be given away framed and for free as a part of the Stores Holiday Painting Give-A-Way which you can read about here if you are interested. I should note that all of the items in the store will be on sale during the holiday season for those of you interested.

"Decorating The Yeti"
Acrylic and Paper Collage
8" x 11"

Sas & Friends at Gallery Nucleus 5th Year Anniversary Show

2009-11-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

This coming Saturday Night Nov.7th, Gallery Nucleus is having a power house of a show in celebration of their 5 year anniversary as a gallery. The Quinquennium Exhibitum: Nucleus 5 Year Anniversary Exhibition is the title of the show, and it will feature tons and tons of amazing artists (like usual) all doing what they do best, creating really inspiring and beautiful artwork. Shown above is one of the pieces I'm contributing to the show, it's Sasquatch and his best friend Stanley. Anyways, if you want to check out a great art show this weekend, swing by Gallery Nucleus this Saturday Night for a packed house of amazing work.

Best Friends
15.5" x 9.5"
Acrylic and Collage
2009

Thanks Spike!

2009-10-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Spike Jonez and Co. have recently set up an awesome blog called "We Love You So" chronicling everything that is "Where The Wild Things Are." Last week he posted the piece I did for Terrible Yellow Eyes on his blog, and although he didn't mention my name with the piece, I'm honored that he liked it enough to post it on his blog. Where The Wild Things Are is one of my favorite books of all time, and has now become on of my favorite films ever, not to mention a great example of how CG Animation can seamlessly merge with Live Action Filmaking if it's done with good taste. Too often, CG Animation becomes a crutch when it comes to creating special effects and character animation for films, but the fact that Spike and the team he assembled, constructed and built everything that they could by hand ( hat's off to Jim Hensons Creature Shop for those kick ass costumes ) and used only CG where they needed it ( mainly in the animation of the characters faces )I think set forth a great example of how the CG Animation medium should be used in film. Limited and only when necessary. Anyways my wife and I have already seen the film twice, and well probably make it to the theaters once more before it makes it's exit. The film is beautiful and a breath of fresh air for an industry that always seems to turn something we all love into something we wish was different. Anyways, thanks again Spike for posting my piece.

Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space

2009-10-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

They don't make movie posters like they used to, and being a huge fan of classic horror movie posters, when I was asked to create and paint a few "campy" B-Movie inspired movie posters for their recently released Halloween Special, I jumped at the opportunity. While painting movie posters is fun, I find that the hardest thing about painting these types of classic horror posters is trying to balance all the story and thematic elements into one single image. Anyways, playing with text, cheesy & garish colors, and over dramatising most of the characters and elements in these posters was a lot of fun. Also, thanks to Amid for the kind words and for featuring this on the Brew.

Built To Spill Concert Poster

2009-10-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

I recently did this concert poster for the awesome band "Built to Spill." The are playing at the world famous Fillmore in San Francisco over the Halloween weekend, so I was asked to create something with a Halloween flair to it. I ended up with this satanic recording studio featuring the grim reaper on lead guitar and the mummy on vocals.

The official show dates are Saturday October 31st & Sunday November 1st at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Halloween Print Set Avaliable

2009-10-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

With Halloween upon us, I thought I would update my store with a little vampire flavor. The Drinking with Dracula print pack is new, and will be available for a limited time during the Halloween season. The original paintings were shown at the ART & Mayhem Gallery in Los Angeles in 2008. Every print pack consists of all three signed Dracula prints. Check out the Drinking with Dracula Print Set in the store if you are interested in spending sometime with this Halloween drunk.

My Artwork & Print Store Is Now Open

2009-10-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

First off, I just want to thank everyone out there who has supported me and this little blog I started several years ago. All the support and positive feedback I've received from all of you out there has been amazing and incredibly inspiring.

Secondly, for a long time now, I've wanted to have a place online that I could offer some prints and artwork for sale but haven't gotten around to creating the website for it. Well, my wife Crystal and I have spent the last month getting the ball rolling on this idea and finally we have a little online store that is now officially open! The Artwork and Print store we've started will be updated regularly with new prints and new original paintings, sketches, and possibly shirts and even toys in the future. There will be a link on this blog to the right that will take you directly there, plus other links that will take you to featured prints. What's available in the store at this moment is just at a small starting place, so if something is missing from the store that you wish was there, just send us an email and we can hopefully add it to the store. Also, check out the Painting Give-A-Way section in the store, there's going to be some opportunities for people to win some free original artwork, so have a look at that if you are interested. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us or simply check out the FAQ section. And if you get a chance, swing by the store and check out what we got.

The piece shown above will be available in the store as a Limited Edition Signed and Numbered Print "She Loved the Man and the Monster." The original piece has been sold. It was featured in the newly released book "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." The print shown below is one of the smaller 8x10 prints titled "Some Like Them Hot / Some Like Them Cold". These smaller 8x10 prints are all sized to perfectly fit right into any 8x10 picture frame, below is an example of one of the prints placed in an 8x10 Ikea frame.

**Sorry, but the photo shown above has not been color corrected, it's only to show size and scale with an 8x10 frame.

Where The Wild Things Are Gallery Show - Saturday Night

2009-09-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece I recently did for the Terrible Yellow Eyes Gallery Show at Gallery Nucleus . The exhibit showcases a huge amount of amazing work all inspired by the greatest book of all time " Where The Wild Things Are." A few months ago, a guy buy the name of Cory Goodby started this great Blog dedicated to showcasing artwork inspired by the book, as a birthday gift for Maurice Sendak, the Author of "Where The Wild Things Are." Since this book happens to be my favorite book of all time, and now that Spike Jonez is making what will be the best movie of all time, naturally i had to participate. So here is my piece. It's actually a 3-D Painting / Sculpture titled "Wish You Were Here." For me, I wanted to explore the feelings and the sorrow that the monsters might have once Max was gone, this idea of holding onto what ever remains after someone has left felt really inspiring to me.

Since this piece is a small 3-D model, I thought I would have fun with the camera and photoshop and see what the movie might have looked like if it was made as a stop motion animated film. As for the real film, I think Spike Jonez has made the movie of my lifetime. This book seems like it could have been made into a thousand crappy films, and once I saw the first poster, I knew that it wasn't going to be a steaming pile. Spike Jonez is a genius, the move looks fantastic, the art direction looks amazing, my only problem with it is I didn't have the chance to work on it. Anyways, the show is gonna be great, if you can swing by Gallery Nucleus this Saturday Night from 6-11pm, you won't regret it, the artwork created by the other artists is inspiring and truly amazing.

"Wish You Were Here"
Mixed Media

Fun with 3-D

2009-09-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing the glasses enhance the experience. Sorry for the lack of updates, just returned from a month long series of vacations, and finishing up a bunch of smaller projects, commissions, and trades, will post more real soon. Until then, grab a pair of these future glasses shown above and have some fun.

"Fun with 3-D"
Acrylic / Paper Collage
8.5" x 11"

This Is Los Angeles

2009-07-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying to catch up on a lot of little projects, trades, commissions, and paintings for friends and loved ones, and now that the Ancient Book of Sex and Science storm is over I have the time to do it. This is a piece I did for Steven Gettis. He has a blog where he posts drawings and paintings from artists from around the world who do a little something in response to a literary inspiration they have. For me, one of my favorite book illustrators in the world is Miroslav Sasek. His work is stunning and I particularly love the books he illustrated as he traveled the world. Anyways, Sasek never illustrated a "This Is Los Angeles" so I thought I would paint this tribute piece using the concept of "This Is Los Angeles." My real hope is to start working on an entire book illustrating LA the way he illustrated his books. Not to try and carry the torch, but to honor his work in the best way possible, painting what's great, funny, and inspiring about life. I'll post more of my paintings of LA as I finish them.

"This is Los Angeles"
8" x 12"
Acrylic & Collage

Commission Painting

2009-07-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here is another commission painting I recently finished. The concept was of course a Yeti bar, but one thing I thought would be fun with this piece was if all the patrons at the bar were either Yeti's or frozen climbers/campers that had been found in the snow. In the piece there is obviously a shortage of frozen co-eds in and around the mountains, so one of the Yeti's was stuck having a drink with a frozen dude. Really fun piece to work on, and one of the bigger ones I've painted in a while.

I'm always taking new requests, just email me if you are interested.

"Having a Couple of Cold Ones"
Acrylic and Collage
26" x 8"

Only a few paintings left

2009-07-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

There are only a few pieces left from the Ancient Book of Sex and Science Show in LA, and they can be yours if you'd like. I won't be at San Diego Comic Con so you can only get these here. One of the pieces is Acrylic and Collage ("Monster of Science" above), and the other two (below) are digital prints ("What Has Science Done Book Cover and Movie Still"). All Pieces are framed and ready to hang. Email me if you are interested in any of the pieces. These will ship anywhere should you be near or far.

Sorry but "Space Quickie" has been sold. The others are still available.

San Diego Art Show this Saturday Night

2009-07-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. It's been way too long since I last posted, sorry about that, I've found my self busier than I have been in a while. I'll get to replying to all your coments on previous posts ASAP, sorry about that aswell. As for the piece shown above, this is a painting I've done for an upcoming group art show in San Diego. The theme for the show is "Mind Machine" and is being shown at the DISTINCTION GALLERY in Escondido ( just out side of San Diego.) The opening reception is this weekend on Saturday night, the 11th of July from 6pm - 11pm. There are a handful of great artists showing work in this group show so if you aren't busy and are in the San Diego area this weekend swing by the gallery and check out the show. The show will also be availible for viewing and purchasing online, just check the website link above or call the gallery for more info. My work for the show is centered around the life and times of a BrainBot (a human brain with eyes, floating inside of a robotic body.)

A Kiss Before Work
8" x 10"
Acrylic / Collage

Ancient Book of Sex and Science Book Launch & Art Show

2009-05-12T16:33:00.001-07:00

It's official, the book has finally arrived and it looks great! Especially next to the hot little Betty holding it, if she's at the show I'm gonna have to try and get her phone number.

If you want to get your hands on a copy of the book, you can this Saturday Night ( May 16th ) from 7pm to 11pm at Gallery Nucleus . We will be having the official Book Launch / Gallery Show for our brand new book "THE ANCIENT BOOK OF SEX AND SCIENCE!" The book will be on sale for $20 a piece, and Scott Morse, Lou Romano, Don Shank, and my self will all be showing brand new artwork in the gallery as well as having some brand new prints available too. All artwork will be for sale, and all four of us will be at the show as well. So if your in the mood for some sexy Sci-Fi art this weekend swing by Gallery Nucleus and check out the show on Saturday Night. Hope to see you all there.

Possible "LOST" Spoiler Alert

2009-04-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

So this is quickly becoming a partial Crystal's sketches / Lost blog, which is great since these are two of my favortie things in the world. After last weeks episode of Lost, which was amazing, my wife dissapeared for a while. While she didin't travel through time, she had indeed travled upstais into my art studio, letting destiny play itself out. Moments later I was given this amazing sketch. Miles and all of his troubles. It had been a while since the last drawing, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get another. These awesome sketches seem to be as random as the white flashes on the island. I'm still hoping for a one of Henry Gale but I feel it will be one I never see. Either way, I should just listen and trust in Daniel Faraday... what's happend has happend. You can't change it!

GO SPARTANS!

2009-04-06T17:52:00.001-07:00

April 6th:
When I'm not drawing and painting, I love watching and playing sports. I absolutely love basketball, and tonight my favorite college basketball team (Michigan State)is playing for the National Championship. While I'm from California, I have family roots in East Lansing and my Aunt and Uncle worked for the school for years. Not much else to say about this quick painting other than I felt like drawing the school mascot "The Spartans" as I would like to imagine them going into this game ready to kill. I hope they win.

April 7th:
UNC destroyed us last night to put it nicely. Oh well, there's always next year.

The Convict & The Violin

2009-03-27T14:02:00.001-07:00

So I'm currently swamped in a ton of projects both big and small, so I thought I'd post something from a little while back. Last year I did this painting as a commission for someone who wanted me to create a piece inspired from a poem they loved. The poem was centered around the meeting of a convict and a young violinist in a train station who both share a common love for music.

10" x 20"
Acrylic / Gouache / Collage

SEX & SCIENCE

2009-03-12T17:19:00.001-07:00

Sex and Science
10" x 13"
Acrylic / Gouache / Collage

Another piece of mine from the Ancient Book of Sex and Science. There is this great book series known as the "How and Why Wonder Books" that I just love. It's a book series that focuses on a particular aspect of science in each volume. The covers are so great and inspiring that I thought it would be fun to do a tribute / spoof of one of those covers for our book. So I refrenced one of the covers I really enjoyed and tried to stay true to the format, color, and typography styling. Obviously the edition that I did the cover to is a bit racy for the series, but I think it would be a best seller if it were included.

I painted the piece with acrylic, gouache, and paper collage. The rips and printing effects were done in photoshop after the piece was finished.

Below is the cover I refrenced, it's awesome.

!SHOW UPDATE!

The book release and gallery show will be at Gallery Nucleus on May 16th, 2009. All artwork will be for sale at the show. More info as we get closer to the event. The offical press release is located to the right in the side bar, just click on the book logo.

You should have believed me!

2009-02-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

So I'm hoping this becomes a regular thing here, my wife suprised me with a little John Locke magic the other night, and what better time to post it than before tonight's soon to be awesome episode. Now I like Jack as much as the next guy, but let's be honest, if there are two paths in the jungle, you always go with Locke.

"You Should Have Believed Me"
Colored Pencil
Crystal Wragg

Space Quickie

2009-02-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

This is another piece of mine for our upcoming book, "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." This is an idea I had been kicking around in my head for quite sometime now, I always thought it would be fun to have an astronaut sneek his girl into is suit for a sexy good time. The space city below is all paint on collage as are the two space love birds.

20" x 10"
Acrylic, Gouache, and Collaege

Talk Science To Me

2009-01-26T10:13:00.001-08:00

We're closing in on the deadline of finishing our new book "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." I have a few more paintings to finish up by the end of Febuary, so I'll be posting some more artwork for the book in the weeks to come. Above is one of my pieces for the book, coming out in May.

Talk Science To Me
10" x 14 1/2"
Acrylic, Gouache, and Collage

Lost Season 5 Tonight!

2009-01-21T15:36:00.001-08:00

So over the past year my wife Crystal and I have finally jumped onto the LOST wagon, and have watched all the episodes to be finally caught up with the series. My wife doesn't draw that often but when she does, I'm her biggest fan. She usually fills my sketchbooks with mean charicatures of me, but the other day she didn't draw me, she drew something different. While we were watching some of season 3, she took on Hurley and it's awesome!! In a perfect world, she would draw all the characters for me, but for now all I get is Hurley. The new season airs tonight, and it's going to be awesome!

"Hurley"
Pen Sketch
by Crystal Wragg

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

Last winter was the first year that we made a holiday card for friends and family, so if this year didn't go fast enough... it's already that time again, so here is the holiday card my wife Crystal and I are sending around this year. We hope you all have a great holiday season!

M. Sasek Tirbute Painting

2008-11-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

This is a tribute piece I did based on the phenominal artwork of Miroslav Sasek. Sasek is easily one of my favorite artists of all time, and when I was asked to create a piece of artwork inspired by my favorite literary figure for this blog created by Steven Gettis I knew exactly who I would pay tribute to. If you haven't seen Sasek's work ( posted below )

I suggest you check it out. The bulk of his work can be seen in the books he illustrated as he traveled the many cities and regions of the world. The title's are a no brainer "This is San Francisco" for example illustartes his trip and all the people and locations he visited in San Francisco. The paintings are beautiful to say the least. For me his work is the perfect blend of cartoon characature, architechture, ladscape and life drawing.

As for the tibute piece I did, rather than picking a city or a place to illustrate him in, I thought it would be best to put him on top of the world, drawing eveything everywhere.

If you are interested in buying any of Miroslav Sasek's books check them out here

Happy Halloween - Hostile Trolls

2008-10-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone! So this seems to be the perfect combination: halloween and hostile trolls. The character design challange over the past two weeks has been hostile trolls. Given the time of year, it seemed like a perfect oppurtunity to cross some boundries, throw taste out the window, and possibly see how some trolls would interact with some trick out treaters.

Other hostile trolls from my good troll friend:

Austin Madsion

The Ancient Book of Sex and Science

2008-10-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Don Shank
Gouache on Watercolor Paper
7.5" x 15"

Update Time! Don, Scott, Lou and Myself ar busy working away on our latest installment of the Ancient Book Series, "The Ancient Book of Sex and Science." Above is the great cover graphic designed by Don Shank and below is a rough Photoshop mock up of how the new book will look. More details on a release date and Gallery Show / Book Release to come. As for now check out the other guys blogs for a sneak peek at some of the great artwork being done for this book.

Mr. Political

2008-09-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

So as we all know, the race for president is really heating up. For me, as much as I love political caricatures and cartoons I've never really inserted any politics into my own art work. However, the more I have become wrapped up in he current election, I began to think it might be fun to play a little with some political cartoons. For me I have always loved the charming characters that Roger Hargreaves created for his Mr. Men and Little Miss Series (as seen below). The thing I love most about his style is he has combined such a simple idea with a simple design, and they just work together perfectly. So I thought it would be fun to take the current people involved in the election and politics and blend them with the style that Hargreaves worked in, to create a little series of my own completely inspired by Hargreaves fantastic characters and people in politics. Anyways, here are the first two in my little series of Mr. and Misses Politics. Above we have Mr. Change and Mr. McSame, based off the two presidential candidates. The style has been a blast to work in, and I'll post more all the way up to the election.

Just above : Roger Hargreaves work

Far Above : My work digital 8" x 10"

Commission Work

2008-09-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

So over the past year I have been doing more and more commission work and it's been such a blast. So I thought I would slowly post some of the commission pieces I have done. While most of the pieces I have done aren't Yeti related, I thought I'd post a few here to get started. Below are a couple of pieces I did a while back...

This one ( Above ) takes place deep in the dangerous arctic swamps. In these hostile frigid swamps lives the "Arctic Swamp Clops!" Slow moving, but extremely aggressive and irritable. However he his vulnerable to sharp objects like frozen branches and large ice picks.

This one ( Above ) had a bit of a cute story behind it. There is a little girl in Detroit who goes by the nickname "Yeti" and her younger brothers name is Griffin, so a painting for the family with a little Yeti and her Snow Griffin buddy.

I have a bunch more that I'll continue to post in the future.

Both pieces are acrylic / gouache / collage

!Coming Soon! The BEST day of my life!

2008-08-19T15:47:00.001-07:00

In the coming weeks I will be blessed and officially sworn in as the luckiest guy in the universe. I'm going to be getting married to the love of my life, my best friend, and favorite person in the whole world. I hate to gush and brag, but when times like these give you so much joy and happiness, I find it hard to hold back my true feelings. Crystal you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, you are my source of joy, laughter, love and inspiration, and I can't tell you how happy I am to be spending the rest of my life with you. Our day is soon on it's way and I can't hardly wait.

These are some of our engagement pictures taken by our inspiring photographer Jeff Newsom. He's hands down my favorite photographer, his blog will only convince you all even more so.

Yeti Vs. Sas Two Pieces Left

2008-08-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry these paintings have already sold.

There are only two pieces left from the show I recently was involved in down in LA, and they can be your's if you'd like. Each piece is 9 x 13" and is Acrylic and Collage and is framed and ready to hang. Email me or comment with your email if you are interested in either or both of the pieces. These will ship anywhere should you be near or far.

Comic-Con 2008 Print Set

2008-07-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

THE ANCIENT BOOK OF SEX AND SCIENCE

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con Scott Morse will be selling an exclusive set of 4 individual prints ( one print by each artist ) all limited to 50 signed and numbered copies in promotion of our next Ancient Book which is on track to debut at next year.

The book will again be by Don Shank, Scott Morse, Lou Romano, and myself. The prints are on high quality fine art paper and will run $50 for all four images together in a set. There are only 50 sets, and while these images won't appear in the book they are exclusive to this print set!

Below is my image in the print set. Just a little space station sneak peek!

Lou's, Don's, and Scott's ( Respectively )

Find Scott's booth (4800) at the Comic-Con here...

My Totoro

2008-06-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here is my donation into the auction for the Totoro Forest Project. We were asked to illustrate what our very own Totoro would be. For me I grew up in the hot central valley in California, where for those of you familiar with that area in the state, there really aren't any lush thriving forests. So with that being said, my summers were spent climbing old trees and playing in the fields out behind my home on the edge of town. So for me, my Totoro has always been a form of a tree spirit, made up of all leaves, sticks, branches and twigs.

16" x 7"

Acrylic and Collage

LA Art Show this Saturday Night

2008-06-16T09:56:00.001-07:00

Yeti's and Sasquatches and remote controlled cyborg Narwhals oh my! This coming Saturday night, the 21st of June, I'll be showing some new pieces of mine at the Art and Mayhem Gallery in Glendale, CA. Also showing new pieces that night will be my good friend Devo and Dave Wasson. So come and check out the show if your in the LA area on Saturday night. Check the flyer below for the address info.

Above is one of the pieces I'll be showing. A top secret Yeti Lair, barried deep in a glacier somewhere in the oceans surrounding Antarctica. A prefect location to test out his lethal new remote controlled blood thirsty cyborg Narwhals, not a good place to find yourself tied up.

9" x 13 1/2"

Acrylic and Paper - Cut Out

Art Show in LA

2008-05-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

On June 21st I'll be in an art show at the Art and mayhem art Gallery in Glendale, CA. I'll be showing with a couple of great artists, my good buddy Devo, and Dave Wasson. The show will start at 6:00pm and go for several hours with all artists attending with original artwork for sale, as well as some prints, comics and some puppets. For the address, just check the flyer posted above. As for the pieces I'll be showing, they will be a collection of Dracula ( see painting above ) and some of his buddies "The Mummy", and "The Wolfman" going out on the town (local village) for some drinks and some good times. I will also be showing a few new paintings of some kick ass battles between my favorite sworn enemies Yeti and Sasquatch! So come and check out the show opening if you are in the LA area the night of the 21st.

Painting Above

"Thirsty"

6" x 10" Acrylic and Paper Cut-Out

Waiting for the Bus

2008-04-23T15:37:00.001-07:00

The past couple of months have been crazy as I have mentioned in some of my previous posts before. I'm gearing up for an art show in LA this coming June (details coming soon) and I have been doing a bunch of commission work which has been great. Which is what leads me into this post, this is a commission piece that I just finished and had been working on for a while. It's actually the biggest painting I've ever done, it's a whole 4 feet wide by almost 2 feet tall. While this piece was huge, it was a blast to work on. As for the subject matter, the only thing better than drawing monsters and businessmen, is getting to put them in the same painting! Below is the painting (Shrunken down of course) and I also included a close up view of the monster.

48" x 18" Acrylic and Paper Cut-Out

Something from the pile

2008-04-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

So I've been doing some digging through some of my old work recently an came across this one I did a while back. I've always loved drawing monsters and the kids they want to eat, and this piece is no exception.

8" x 12" Pen and Ink and Digital

Muir Woods

2008-04-14T13:53:00.001-07:00

So this weekend my fiancee thought it would be a good idea if I took a break from drawing and painting 24/7 and spent some time outdoors for a change. So Crystal and I set out to explore Muir Woods. For those of you who don't live around the San Francisco area or haven't heard of Muir Woods, it's a forest / park north of the city near the town of Marin. Anyways, it was awesome to say the least, we had a great time and it was exactly what I needed to get a great break. The funny thing is, is that the bulk of these pictures were taken before we even got to the park, we had to park so far away that as we were walking to the park, we came across a small trail / path off the side of the road and thought we'd have a look. It seemed like the kind of place we'd come across David the Gnome and some Trolls, just a little too nice and fanciful. Anyways, here are some of the pics, just no gnomes. Sorry about that.

Crystal leading me down a lovely Thomas Kinkade-esqe path to certain death

Some nice flowers

Still smiling about leading me into a Thomas Kinkade forest of pain

The best view of me

Probably one of the only pictures taken inside the Muir Woods park

My favorite picture of the day!

Monster Bubble Bath

2008-04-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

So this is a commission piece that I did a few weeks back. It was for someone who loves to read, and so when you like to read the only thing better than reading one book, is two, three or four books. Anyways I've been doing lot's of commission work recently and it's been fun so I'll be posting more that I've been doing over the past couple of months.

7" x 12" Acrylic and Paper Cut-Out

Opposites Attract

2008-04-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite ideas to play off of when I'm sketching is the concept of extreme opposites. It always gets me laughing and wanting to push the limits as far as I can. This one is pretty tame just playing with the idea of a cute and sexy girl waiting for a bus and a creepy guy who likes looking at cute and sexy girls while waiting for hopefully the same bus. I'm not sure where this guy is, probably bar tending at a bowling alley or hanging around a college campus, but I would love to meet him, as for the girl, I know exactly where she is, which means I should probably apologize to my fiancee Crystal for drawing her into this situation, however it's so much fun, that I'll just have to apologize again because there will definitely be more!

My Little Miss Perfect

2008-03-28T22:40:00.001-07:00

One of the best things about having your fiancee as your best friend is when you're at home after work, you always have your favotite person around to hang out with. However, when playing guitar hero with your same favorite, things can get competative. My fiancee Crystal and I are hooked to this plastic guitar shredding game and it's awesome! And since we both too want to be awesome, when it comes to battling, the gloves come off. We both really enjoy the old little Miss and Mr. series ( sorry but I'm terrible with names, and can't remember the guys name who created all these little characters ) anyways, we both love his work and those little characters always remind me of her, so I thought I would make one special for Crystal and all her awesome guitar hero playing skills. I had such a blast making this cute little sour character for her, and everytime I see this drawing it just reminds me of how I love how competitive we get, and how I love how much fun we have playing those little plastic guitars.

Waiting at the Bus Stop

2008-03-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

So my apologies for the extreme lack of posts this new year, things have been so busy for me, that all the stuff I've been wanting to show, I've been working on. As I finish stuff, I'll be posting it, so basically the flood gates are about to open. As for the drawings, here are a few rough designs I did for a project I'm currently in the middle of. There is something fun about drawing un-attractive 50's era businessmen. They can be out of shape, hung-over, un-organized and strung out, yet they are still appealing. I feel like I could draw thousands of these guys, and I probably will, so If it's dead beat dads or creepy office co-workers your looking for, I'll supply them here!

Justin Wright

2008-03-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

All Photographs taken by Debbie Coleman

This past week has been such a hard week for so many of us. We lost an amazing friend and a wonderful animation talent. I met Justin almost 6 years ago when we were both freshmen at Cal Arts. Before I even knew his name I knew of him as "The Pixar Guy." He had the shirts, the hats, the posters, he had everything. He had been a PA at the studio before he came to school and it seemed like his only goal in life was to return to the studio, only as a story artist not a PA. He had such a vibrant and contagious personality, if you weren't laughing with him about something stupid, you were probably arguing with him over something far more stupid. We went through animation school together, and than after school we both ended up at Pixar working together. When I look back at my time with Justin there are all sorts of memories that stand out.

One in particular was getting to work together on the end credits sequence for Ratatouille. We needed people to animate on the credits, but because animation was so slamed, we couldn't have hardly any help from the animators at the studio who had 2-D expirience with the exception of a few. So Teddy and I had to recruit some other people who we new had animation experience. Since I had a bunch of my friends from Cal Arts who were working at the studio at the time, I had plenty of guys I knew could animate and would have a blast doing so. One of those animators was a story intern at the time, my friend from school Justin Wright. Since we had gone to school together and been in the trenches together during film time at Cal Arts, I knew the guy could animate and he did a great job. It was so fun to share the experience of doing 2-D at Pixar with him. It felt like Cal Arts all over again, crazy deadlines, too much animation to do, only now the stakes were too high to really understand at the time, so we all just enjoyed the hell out of that time. In the credits, Justin animated the Rat doing the cannon ball into the ranch dressing, and all the lovely rats at the food hair saloon. I've included abouve some photos of him working on the credits that were taken by the amazing Debbie Coleman ( the in house amazing photographer here at the studio.)

The other great memory that I have of Justin came about 2 and a half years ago. Everyone who knew him knew that his biggest dream and goal in life was to work at Pixar. And when I left before my last year at school to come up here and work, Justin was one of the first people to call me and congratulate me on getting the dream job. I just thought that said so much about his character, that he could see someone else get what he had always wanted, but that he was such an amazing person, that he could put his dreams aside to put someone else before him. That type of attitude will stay with me forever and I have Justin to thank for teaching me to have that type of positive, caring , and inspirational attitude towards everyone I come across. Even though we know you are close by, we will miss you so much.

Future Project

2008-02-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

So I have been working on so many side projects that I haven't had time to put anything up for a while so sorry for that. Anyways here is a rough color study of two characters from an up coming side project I'm working on, I'll post more when I have more.