John wastes paper

FAN ART DEPT: Just dashing off some fan doodles of the coachman character, Driver Mayhew, from The Corpse Bride . I love all the character designs in that movie. But I especially love the graphic design of this guy - all full of contrasting large and small shapes. 'Really fun to draw. By the way, someone was asking me why I fill my doodles with a solid color. For one, I like the look :) And two, I guess it's to remind me that characters aren't just a collection of lines, that they are solid shapes. Digital, 10" x 6" @ 300 dpi.

FUN DISCOVERIES DEPT: I've found a new friend and its name is Kyle's Inkbox Chisel 25! I've been looking high and low for a Photoshop brush that feels and acts like a Sharpie pen and I've found a good one in Kyle Webster's "ULTIMATE Megapack for Photoshop" brush presets. The Chisel 25 gives good thicks and thins and feels very natural for sketching and finish work. 'Nothing special about the sketches above. I was just geeking out with the new brush and having fun. Digital, 14.4" x 10.8 @ 300 dpi.

FAMILIARITY-BREEDS-CONTEMPT DEPT: In the late 90s I took several life drawing classes specifically to concentrate on gesture and linear drawing; aspects of drawing that are most important to character animators. I wanted to improve my drawing skills in these areas so that I could, as they say, "forget the drawing and think of the performance" in my animation. I didn't quite get to that level. But I found the effort to make a good drawing so exhausting that when I wasn't sketching I tended to look absolutely board with the sight of a beautiful, naked woman laying in front of me. One of my classmates captured that expression on my face in this reference photo she took for her final assignment - cropped here to maintain the modesty of the model. That's me on the right staring passively ahead. The big book in front of me was my copy of Thomas and Johnston's "Disney's The Illusion of Life." It served no purpose in the class other than to remind

MORE BEATLES DEPT: Here are a couple of quick Paul doodles to keep George company :) Digital, 9.6" x 5.4 @ 200 dpi

BEATLES TRIVIA DEPT:  It was 50 years ago today, in 1964, that the Beatles landed in the USA for the very first time! Yeah, yeah! I don't know why I'm obsessed lately with doodling George Harrison. Maybe it's those brooding eyes. Or maybe it's because I've recently discovered that some of my favorite early Beatles songs were sung by George and not John or Paul, as I'd thought. This is not a great likeness and is just done from memory. But sometimes that is a good thing and forces you to pick those features that standout in your mind. In this case, George's heavy, close eyebrows and that smirk :) I've also been playing with some new Photoshop brushes I bought from Kyle Webster . I used his ultimate 2b pencil and one of his gouache brushes. Digital, 4.5" x 4.75 @ 200 dpi.

DREAMS DO COME TRUE DEPT: If it's true that life is about the acquisition of memories, then my dad contributed a big one for my 18th birthday. Through his friend Don Henry who worked at the Disney studio, he had arranged for my brother, stepsister, stepmother, and I to tour the studio. We went on August 22, 1980 which I believe was a Friday. We had hoped to go the day before but, to the best of my recollection, couldn't because the Screen Actors Guild was picketing the studio that day.  Wow, real Hollywood dramatics! Don knew I was an aspiring animator and arrange for us to visit one during their lunch hour. I wish I could remember the gentleman's name so that I could thank him again for being so kind and generous with his time. We went to his office where I was gobsmacked to see a real animation desk! He talked a bit about his work and then showed us some of his scenes from The Fox and the Hound by flipping the drawings. Hokey smokes! Real live animation drawings