Turbo Toilet 2000

Here are some designs and poses I did while we explored the look of the Turbo Toilet 2000 for Captain Underpants:The First Epic Movie.  In the movie the Turbo Toilet 2000 is a 100 ft transformer style robot that Professor Poopypants rides in and controls.  I thought it would be funny if the Turbo Toilets movements and behavior was a direct reflection of how Poopypants was acting and behaving while inside.  In the film, we leaned into this idea, and the Turbo Toilet became an extension of Poppypants behavior.

Early Sketches

Some early face design sketches for an animated add campaign I helped a friend with a few months back.  These designs ultimately didn’t make the cut, but they were fun to explore.

10 Little Ninjas

 

10 Little Ninjas was recently received the Missouri Building Block Picture book Award.  This award is given annually to the picture book voted most popular by preschool children in the state of Missouri, which is pretty cool considering how honest kids are with what they like and don’t like…lol.  If you’d like to pick up this book you can buy it online at the links below:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Character Design Classes - Winter Semester

Winter Semester for my Online Character Design Classes are starting up in about 2-3 weeks. I’ll post more info this week on each class, but for now if you’d like to check out the classes I’ll be teaching you can read more about them and sign up at the links below:

Character Design for Animation

Character Design for Production

Art Direction for Character Designers

Holiday Doodles

Drew this one of my daughter and her new best friend this holiday season.

The Hollywood Reporter

 The Hollywood Reporter recently published an article about Production Design in this years animated films, and I feel honored to be included for Production Designing Captain Underpants.  For the full article, click HERE

Captain Underpants Color Script

Part 2 of color scripting the afternoon time lapse in George and Harold’s tree house.  This was fun playing with not only the time of day change in terms of color palette, but also how the light traveled around the tree house as the sun was setting.

Captain Underpants Color Script

Color scripting this section of Captain Underpants was fun, we start with the boys tree house, which essentially is a complete opposite in tone from the school.  As they spend the afternoon making their latest comic, we got to play with the transition from afternoon, to magic hour, to dusk / dinner time lighting and color.

Captain Underpants Color Script

More Captain Underpants color script / color keys work I did for the film.  In the production design of the film, I really wanted to push for an “institutional” look in the style and color of the school location, giving it a penitentiary vibe instead of an elementary vibe.  That feeling is ever present in the books from author / illustrator Dav Pilkey, and I love how it gives the school a great sense of character in the film.  Our director David Soren really embraced this concept, and helped us push for this in the design and tone of the film.

Spiderman Character Design Demo

A Spider-Man Demo I did for my online character design class last night.  This was a fun request, Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero,but it’s been too long to remember since I last drew him.  

If you are interested in seeing more character design demos / lectures of mine, I have a new semester of online character design classes that start soon, so if you are interested you can register for them below:

Character Design for Animation

Character Design for Production

Captain Underpants Color Script

Some color script / color keys work I did for Captain Underpants.  This part of the process is always fun, I love exploring how color can help set the tone for the film.

Tangram & Sketch Session

Lemons & Limes

Our dog, new found lover of the fallen limes and lemons in our backyard

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is out TODAY!

Today marks the release of Dreamworks “CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS:The First Epic Movie.” I Production Designed the movie and was so lucky to have worked with the best group of artists I could have ever asked for.  While our art department was small, we were jam packed with talent that inspired every ounce of the look of this film.  Above you’ll see a painting of mine, and some vis dev from Chris Zibach, Perry Dixon Maple, Rune Bennicke, Floriane Marchix, and Avner Gellar.

We also had, and this can’t be understated, these AMAZING books to be inspired by each and every day to help guide us on our design / adaptation journey.  It’s because of these books, and Dav Pilkey (the author / illustrator) that we had this movie to make.  Dav Pilkey is a genius, and one of the best artists I’ve ever come across, and I hope he know’s that our art department honored and cherished his work each an everyday and I think that really shows in our faithful adaptation of his work up onto the big screen.  

Our Director David Soren, Producers Mark Swift and Mireille Soria also deserve a big shout out as well.  The trust and support they provided each and every day allowed our art department to flourish.  Easily one of the best, most creative teams I have ever been around.

Also, a huge thanks to the entire team at Mikros.  I spent half of my time during this production there in studio with you all in Montreal and Paris, and each and everyone of you helped make this amazing movie.  Your tireless work, and dedication to this film is why it looks so fantastic, thank you all.

I’ve posted few pieces of the vis dev work above and will post more in the coming weeks, but if you get the chance, go see the movie it’s out today and track down the Art of Book ( pictured above ) which you can find in stores and online.

Captain Underpants - Character Sneak Peek

As the marketing campaign starts to roll out for our movie, I thought I’d post some of our main characters from Captain Underpants : The First Epic Movie. These are our CG Renders from the film, so big shout out to all the amazing artists who helped bring these to life!  The movie hit’s theaters June, 2nd!

Spring Character Design Classes Starting Soon!

Hey Everyone,

The Spring Term for my online Character Design Classes is now open for registration.  If you are looking for some info on these available classes now, check out the links below:

Character Design for Animation

Character Design for Production

Captain Underpants Movie Trailer now online

The movie I've been Production Designing for Dreamworks has it's first trailer out today, have a look.

Captain Underpants Movie Poster Released

For the past few years I've been production designing "Captain Underpants" for Dreamworks Animation.  Yesterday our movie poster was released, have a look!

First Look at Captain Underpants

Tra-La_la!!! Hey everyone, Entertainment Weekly has posted a first look and interview about the movie I’m Production Designing for Dreamworks.  I’m so excited for you all to see the amazing work that all the talented artists I’ve worked with have done to create this spectacular film.  Thanks to our fantastic Director and Producers this film has been a blast to be a part of, can’t wait for you all to see it June 2nd, 2017.

Picturebooking Podcast with Nick Patton

I recently had the wonderful privilege to speak with the very talented Nick Patton on his Picturebooking Podcast about a few of the most recent books I’ve illustrated.  One of the books we speak in depth about is Monster Trucks, written by the great Anika Denise.  Among other things we also chatted about during the podcast was another recent release of mine 10 Little Ninjas that was written by the fantastic Miranda Paul.  So if you are looking for a fun conversation about illustrating books, design, and visual storytelling, then have a listen and check out the link below:

PictureBooking Podcast