When all else fails...doodle!

Photoshop CS2. Background is an etching by Johann Wilhelm Schirmer's Aus dem Park Chigi. That's the Red Queen on the upper left. Okay, I lied, not really. And just for the record, I did this on my break. Enrico and I had chocolate cake. Yum. I'm rambling, aren't I? 'Nuff said.

I got nuthin'. One of those days. I hope all of youse out there are having a better go at your day.

The cosmic energies encourage you to be creative and relaxed -- and really, who are you to naysay them? This is a great opportunity to play without feeling guilty, so take full advantage of it.

That was from my horoscope. I'm not in the habit of resorting to divining my fates via the cosmic crap shoot of stars and planets. I'm in a funk,'kay? But it did say I should take advantage of it. Thus, the doodle above.

Be well, all.

(Larger version of above image here)

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I did some etchings (dry point and line etching) back in college and loved it. Here's a site of Printmaking Techniques.

And a link to the image I used for the background above. Here.

There you have it.

Toy case at the front kiosk. It's a meager offering of schwag to buy for a company with so many well loved characters in their roster. John calls the characters our "children." Now, the family will stay together.

Bullseye. All the rumours didn't turn out to be outlandish after all and were all right on the money. The wait was tense making -- productivity on my part was halved (I'm already slug-like this part of the year).

Outside, the press waited. Ed, Steve and John will tell the company what was about to be announced to the world. This has been the way it's been done here. They wanted to tell us what they know: We are going forward on the best plan for Pixar that should be made. There are many good reasons and much has changed since talks had broken off between the two companies. All those changes are good changes. All smart hombres. No three individuals on the planet I would rather be in league with than these gentlemen right here. What they say is good enough for this lowly grunt.

I wish this grand new venture wings. I say a fond, wistful goodbye to the Pixar that was and look ahead with hope that the adventures bring great movies and take animation back to the heights the art held out as a promise to all of us who participate in it.

Our fearless leader

Done on Painter Classic while on a Mary Blair exploration kick. I was oblivious to color profiles and monitor calibration (not that much more educated about it now. But that's why I'm sitting close to Don Shank for safety) and had a heck of time getting the image to look halfway decent when I delivered the image for book printers to use. Must learn to read manuals.

John Lasseter. I did this a long time ago, back in Nemo days. I know I must've posted this in the old Tirade blog (and it's been printed in the Nemo book) but here it is again as part of the series of People I work with drawings. Given all the rumours flying hither and yon about the fate of talks between Pixar and Disney it seemed timely. And, no, no one I work with (even director types I talk to) are in on what's about to happen. I'm just another bloke amongst the speculating masses.

About John on the Pixar website.
IMDB
Wikipedia
NY times

More people in my neighborhood

Inside back cover to Paper Biscuit 2 and first page.

Ryan's Daughter. Shannon Ryan, that is. I tend to post items about people I work with or, in this case, drawings of people I work with. Who knows, this could be an ongoing thing. There are so many awesome world class caricaturists around me (Ricky Nierva) that I'm timid to post anything I've done. Shannon got Paper Biscuit 2 a while back and I did the usual sign my name on the page. Now that she's running our story department (There are several here, we're one of the small ones. Not an easy job with our current menagerie of talents. Dont even get me started on scheduling and logistics), I can make up for the perfunctory scribble in did on her copy.

Full size image of above image here.

Sam & Max lives!

Online, that is. Fans of Steve Purcell's "favorite Dog and Rabbity thing" will rejoice in knowing that he's dug out from under the pile of amazing story work he's done for a certain CG movie coming out this summer about talking automo...oh, you get it. If you know Steve at all you know the man's twisted and funny and it comes out as comic voice asides that get you to healthy laughter in no time. Good therapy for me, that's why I mosy on down to his work area from time to time.

In the past Steve’s talked about doing something in a strip format but the potential of the web to build a continuing story over time, appeals to his sloth-like, immovable nature. Steve’s so excited about offering this new comic content he actually produced a single goose pimple on his left forearm.

"What cancelled Sam & Max Freelance Police game?" Here's the old boy's mug. I wanted to take a more current photo but he's the shy retiring type. Yeah, right.

The Sam & Max online comic

When you visit the link above it brings you to the first installment of the online comic (there's three to date). Bring the dialogue to life as you wisk your cursor over the panels! Steve promises to keep these pages coming. Contemplating goose pimples takes all of five minutes tops, so he has no excuses.

Other folks excited over this development talk about it via this forum.

And he's got t-shirts for sale as well as prints! Over here.

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I promised that I'd take a more recent photo, and by gum, I meant it! Always knock before you enter a man's domain. You'll never know what you'll walk into.

Hark! Is that the sound of Angus and Tashana crashing a weddding?

Along Museum Row in New York as Tess and I were about to cross the street to go to the National Academy. There were the two most perky people on the street, who can they be?


Zoom in! It's Angus and Tashana! They brightened our day, greeting us with such exuberance. On their way to see the Egon Schiele show at the Neue. Love them!

Favorite people list. Angus Mclane and Tashana Landray are on everyone's lists. But not on the wedding guest list of Marc and Tara Runyan. Angus and Tashana showed up bearing gifts and celebrated, even got snapped by the wedding photographer. Pictures came back and no one had a clue who they were.

MacLane and Landray met in August 2001, and on their first date, MacLane mentioned a failed wedding-crash attempt. Landray made an offhanded comment that now that engaged couples had such detailed wedding Web sites, it would be easy to read up on an unsuspecting couple and talk themselves into the wedding.

All of this in good fun. To balance their karmic debt they invited the Runyans to their wedding to be their official wedding crashers.


ABC News item

IMDB: Angus Maclane

"...In with the new."

This lady at the table next to me was so tired she was almost bent in half. She took her time recuperating and after a long while got up and slowly headed out of the mall. Shopping is brutal.

Made it to the other side. Through the holiday brou-haha and weeks of the season's madness. Admit it, all that hugger-mugger can frighteningly resemble mass hysteria, doesn't it? Ahhh, but it's once a year. I gotta figure out how to do this differently next year.

But here I am, finally found a moment's respite. What with battling the residual cough from the New York flu and holiday obligations, one can get really frazzled. So, coffee and cake in the afternoon at my favorite cafe (Rooz). Above sketch done at the SF mall on my daughter's birthday shopping spree. I sat at a table amidst the throngs harvesting the after Christmas sales in the building, I guarded the shopping bags and held the coats. People watching was superb.

Hope you all had a fun and safe holiday break.

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Update. Link to larger jpeg of above sketchbook page here.