Kelsey Mann

SIOBHAN MAGNUS

2010-04-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

SKB PAGES-001

2010-04-28T11:14:00.001-07:00

MY LITTLE GIRL

2010-04-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

My little girl turns 2 today!!

THREE PANELS WITH NO HOME

2010-04-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

These were done sometime ago and for no particular reason. Just doodling around for the fun of it. Shots to a nameless movie perhaps.

KERN RIVER part II

2010-03-26T16:45:00.001-07:00

Some more paintings from the Kern trip. The image on the top was a favorite of mine. Water is really tricky. There's the reflections in water, the water surface itself and the surface on the bottom. I thought I was successful capturing the surface on the bottom in particular with this one (at the bottom of the image).

KERN RIVER

2010-03-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

I take an annual trip (or semi-annual recently) to the Kern River with some friends. It's one of my favorite places in California and I look forward to it every year. This time I did something different. I usually take the trip and leave any sketching/drawing tools at home. Get away from it all and just get out and enjoy nature. But this time I decided to bring along my pastels. Which was a blast. I found it very relaxing and calming to stop for an hour or so and just take in the view. The spot we camp at has this incredible view of a mountain range known as "The Needles". I tried to do a couple studies at different times of the day.

LAKE ANZA

2010-03-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

Bill took us out a couple times to study water and reflections. We met at Lake Anza in the Tilden Regional Park in the east bay. Quite a drive from Petaluma at 6 in the morning, I might add. But I believe these were done after work around sunset.

I had a lot of fun with these and even donated the top one to an auction at Lucasfilm. Bosco Ng is the proud owner of that piece! Thanks buddy! It was a lot of fun and they raised a ton of money. I hope it continues and I get asked again to donate.

PS-That's the beautiful and talented Vaughn Ross showcasing my piece.

BACK ON THE WAGON

2010-03-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

Alright. I'm gunna brush off the dust that's been collecting on this blog of mine here and get it up and running. I've got a ton of stuff to post and it's just sitting in a pile of papers and sketchbooks. It's about time to get them scanned in and posted up! I'll pick up where I left off...

BILL CONE'S PASTEL CLASS

Pixar offers all kinds of amazing classes. One of which was a Pastel Painting class taught by the talented Bill Cone. If you don't know his work, go out and buy an "Art of" Pixar book. He's the best. Check out his blog when you get a chance too. The above painting is one I did on my own while taking his class. It wasn't until then did I really find any comfort with the medium. Here are my embarrassing first attempts...

The first painting I ever did. Just outside Pixar around noontime.

This was done in the hills above the East Bay. Just around sunset.

Also in the same area, only looking up the hill and was done in the morning.

"UP" BEST PICTURE NOMINATION!

2010-02-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

Not only is it the second Animated Feature to get nominated, but the first since the "Best Animated Feature" category was added in 2001. It's a great day for Pixar and for animation! Congrats to the crew and everyone who worked on it!

Pastel Class

2009-09-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a pastels class here at work taught by the talented Bill Cone. Here's one of my first studies done while waiting for my carpool partner. It's a very small study. 3X5 inches or so.

COMIC CON SKETCHBOOK ENTRIES

2009-07-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

COMIC CON 2009

2009-07-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

I almost missed this one. At the last minute I decided to cancel my table this year and just attend as a professional. Not realizing that I also canceled my ticket in. Luckily a friend had an extra pass, so nerdfest was a go again!

SEE THE PHOTOS!

POST-IT ANIMATION #3

2009-07-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

So this is it! The thrilling conclusion to the Stick Figure Post It Animations. This is clearly done around the time of Nintendo and is the most advanced in terms of technique (camera moves and everything!). Although sadly, a Ninja Turtle does not make a cameo at the end. Hope you enjoyed these!

POST-IT ANIMATION #2

2009-07-20T09:48:00.001-07:00

Here's the second POST-IT NOTE animation. This one is done a little later than the first. I'm guessing around 1989-1990 if the ending is any indication. The added sfx really brings out the chaos of the action. I had a blast putting this together. One more to come! Stay tuned!

CAUTION! This one contains some GRAPHIC VIOLENCE!

POST-IT ANIMATION #1

2009-07-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

I went back home to my parents place in MN and came across some real gems. This is the first of 3 Post-It Note animations I had done back in the day. I thought it would be fun to scan them in and edit them into a Quicktime! Here's the first one!

UP ART

2009-06-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

Pete Doctor and Ricky Nierva gave a little interview for the New York Times on some of the designs for "Up"

New York Times Interview

Also while you're following links. Wander over towards Lou Romano's blog.

Lou Romano's Blog

He's got all kinds of goodies. Like these quick After Effects movies he made trying to breathe some more life into his designs for the film.

damn I love working at this company

AWESOME BEATLES XBO360 AD

2009-06-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

This is one hell of a commercial. It's for a Beatles Rock Band game. Damn is this thing cool. Every once in a while you see something you wished you worked on. "Up" is one of them, this is another...

"UP" IS OUT!

2009-05-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Pixar unleashes it's tenth film Friday! I'm pretty damn excited to see the public's reaction. People are really gunna love it. It's hilarious, fun and surprisingly touching. So far the response has been super positive. As evidence by RottenTomatoes! Congrats to everyone that had a hand in it. It's truly a great film.

IT IS YOUR DESTINY

2009-05-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

I went thru an old box in the attic and came across these gems. I was all about "Jedi" when I was a kid. And I've got the drawings to prove it. Who knew that I'd eventually draw Star Wars characters for a living.

I really like this one (notice the pre-special edition Sarlacc Pit)

If you look closely, you can see Han over the fire

My favorite part of this one are the witches I drew on the back. That's what the Empire needed to defeat the Rebels. A squadron of witches. Take that Admiral Ackbar!

LUCASFILM BEARD OFF!

2009-04-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

So before I left Lucasfilm, I participated in a no holds barred Beard Off! It wasn't much of a contest since we didn't set any rules, but what we did do was take a picture everyday of our beard growth progression! Our good friend Justin Mettam put together this video of the results.

THE AESTHETIC OF SURPRISE

2009-03-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is a cool little video of Ira Glass, host of "This American Life," giving a talk about stories and storytelling.

Ira Glass at Gel 2007 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

ART OF STORYBOARDING

2009-03-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

A friend at work found this great little 13 minute documentary about storyboarding hosted by Eric Goldberg. Worth checking out.

MY FIRST CLONE WARS EPISODE

2009-03-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL EPISODE

Tonight CARTOON NETWORK will be airing the first episode of the "CLONE WARS" that I worked on. It was a fun episode and the first time I worked with Giancarlo Volpe. One of their talented directors. It actually the season finale. Here's a PREVIEW

ALIEN SQUID

2009-03-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

This thing is totally cool. A shell oil drilling site caught this creature on camera about two miles down. Looks like James Cameron already knew about it and we're just catching up...

UP TRAILER!

2009-03-06T16:43:00.000-08:00

Got to see this trailer at work the other day. I can't wait for it! I've been trying to stay away from too much here at the studio so that I can be surprised. What I have seen looks great!

FIRST DAY AT PIXAR!!

2009-02-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow is the big day. I start my new gig at Pixar. I'm getting pretty excited and a bit nervous too. But there's one thing I do know. As they're showing me around the studio and introducing people, this is what's going to be going on in my head...

I GOT A NEW JOB!!!!!

2009-01-25T23:05:00.000-08:00

After years and years of trying and preparing, it finally happened. I got a job at PIXAR!! I can't tell you how long I've tried. Ever since the first Toy Story, I've set my sights on Pixar. It's been a long hard road. The college I went to didn't have an animation program so that forced me to learn everything on the job and at evening classes. I can't tell you how hard I've worked to get this.

I even have proof. Here's a letter I got nearly 10 years ago! It's dated June 29th 2001, but it was really 2000. I moved to LA at the end of 2000 and this was received at my Minnesota address. It was my first glimmer of hope. A letter of rejection, but also letter of hope. They liked my submission! Not enough to call me in for an interview, but enough to hold onto my portfolio to see if anything opened up that fit me! I never got so excited over a rejection letter. I've been holding onto it since then, and I plan on framing it up and taking it with me on my first day...

TO HANG UP AT MY DESK!!!!

NEW POWERPUFF GIRLS

2009-01-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

If you can, check out a special 10th anniversary episode of the girls whooping ass on Monday, Jan. 19, at 8 p.m. (ET, PT) on Cartoon Network! Craig was working on this while I was still at CN and a lot of other talented people were a part of it (Leticia Lacy, Ben Balistreri, Shannon Tindle, Shane Prigmore, C. Raggio, and Chris Battle). Plus it was animated entirely in the US by the Fosters's flash crew.

ANIMATRIX and AEON FLUX

2009-01-09T00:15:00.000-08:00

Here are the last sketches I have for that "Drawing From Film" class. This is further into the class, so you can see how he had us pushing the poses and incorporating different styles on the same subject/image. He was really pushing us to not just copy but re-interpret and discover something new.

I like to jot down great quotes people say and there's one on this page. John said during class, "There are so many wonderfully anorexic people in LA"

MMM...NIMH SUM...

2009-01-05T20:47:00.000-08:00

More studies from the class at Lucasfilm. If you know your animation history, then you know these are from Bluth's "Secret of Nimh". My favorite Bluth film by far.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!!

2009-01-04T23:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some more studies from that class I took. I'm finally getting around to scanning them all in! Here's some from another Ridley classic, "Gladiator"!

This one was a left handed drawing

'ALIEN' STUDIES

2008-11-11T00:30:00.000-08:00

Last week I had a chance to take a great class taught by a visiting CalArts teacher, John Mahoney. We basically spent the night studying and drawing from movies. The first night we spent looking at a scene from "Alien"...

BRUSHING OFF THE DUST...

2008-10-10T00:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't been to a life drawing session in a while, so I was glad to go the other night to a session after work. Lucas has a bi-weekly session and I really would like to continue attending. Here's a couple samples from the night...

PREMIERE!

2008-10-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Check out CN tonight 9PM (E/P)!
(unlike the movie, the show is actually good!)

NOIR PRINT PROCESS

2008-09-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

At the last minute I decided to make a print for Comic Con. I thought it would be fun to show a little bit of my process. So here it goes...

THUMBNAIL

First I start out with filling as many pages as I can with all kinds of ideas. I keep the drawings small and loose. Concentrating mainly on composition and shapes.

ROUGH SKETCH

After I find something that I think works, I take it and do a larger rough. Still keeping it loose and not getting concerned with detail. I'm just trying to hone in the shapes and perspective while exploring some tone too.

CLEANER ROUGH

Now I'm starting to define the piece more. Tightening up the shapes and getting more concerned with lines rather than tone. Still keeping it loose and full of energy, but refining the shapes and design. Each step is an evolution towards a better image. You lose things that didn't work and define those that do. You can see I didn't like the man's silhouette and I made an adjustment to hopefully improve it.

CLEAN UP SKETCH

Here's where I begin to think about detail and start to tighten things up for the final image. If I make any mistakes, I don't sweat it because I know I can make changes in Photoshop when I begin to do the tone.

FINAL TONE

Then I scan in my sketch and begin to paint in the tone in Photoshop using my Cintiq. This is a huge step and unfortunately I don't really have any 'in progress' versions of this. So you'll just have to do with the final. You'll notice I never stop evolving my piece, even at the very end. Take note on the sign. I wasn't buying the "Noir" sign and I decided to change it to a more appropriate 'hotel' sign instead.

It took me a weekend to put it together and I had a blast with it. Hopefully you dug seeing the different steps!

SKYWALKER AIRSHOW FOOTAGE!

2008-09-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

A while back I mentioned that we got an impromptu air show during one of our lunch/soccer breaks. I thought the only way I'd ever capture the moment was in the sketch below. But luckily they've posted some footage on the web too! They've done some fancy editing with clips from other films, but you can tell the Ranch parts.

See I wasn't lying!

TOTORO FOREST AUCTION

2008-09-08T00:49:00.000-07:00

I got to attend a great art auction over at Pixar Saturday night. A few of the artists there organized the event to raise money for the Totoro Forest Foundation, which help preserve the forest in Japan that inspired Hayao Miyazaki. There was A LOT of incredible work in the show! I even won a bid! I got a great piece by the talented Jay Shuster!...

I've been a fan of Jay's work ever since I saw his stuff in the Episode 1 and 2 "Art of" books. I can't wait to hang it up at home. But first it's taking a trip to the Cartoon Art Museum in San Fran for a couple months. I feel like a high roller with a piece of art "on loan" to a museum!

Thanks to everyone at Pixar for organizing a great event!

JERRY REED MEMORIES

2008-09-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

While I was getting ready for work today I heard on the Today Show that Jerry Reed passed away. Whenever someone dies they usually play clips from their most memorable work. To my surprise they didn't play a clip from what I remember him best by...

CLONE WARS CARDS

2008-08-04T00:06:00.001-07:00

A while back, I mentioned that I got to do some original sketch cards for Topps' Clone Wars cards. Well, with the movie just around the corner, they're released them to the stores! I got to do 66 cards in total and I thought that it would be fun to do a full set of playing cards. Here's a sneak peek at the entire set (each suit is a different theme)...

COMIC CON SKETCHES

2008-07-31T00:17:00.000-07:00

COMIC CON WRAP UP

2008-07-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone that stopped by the booth! I had a great time this year even though I was there only on Friday and Saturday. Next year, I'm planning on going all out and doing a large project. This year was just way to busy for me to focus. The print was a last minute addition. If you missed getting either my book or the print, check back soon. I'll make it so you can order them on the blog!

Here's a quick wrap up of my favorite things...

HENRY JONES AND JUNIOR

BAG LADY

(She made a dress out of a free give-away bag!)

CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW

(shopping at Ralph's)

CN'S BOOTH

CLONE WARS STORY PANEL

(Steward Lee, Vince Tuscano, Justin Mettam, Ben Price)

DORK-FEST 2008!

2008-07-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's that time of year again. Comic Con is here! I'd like to say I'm totally prepared for it, but I've been a bit swamped this year with new babies, new houses, and new jobs. If you're heading down this weekend, then stop on by TABLE H09 and say hello. This year I'm sharing my space with two talented co-workers of mine, Jackie Huang and Russell Chong. Unfortunately I won't be there all 4 days, but I'll be there for all of Friday and Saturday. I'll be selling my "Noir" Sketchbook I had last year and a brand new...

NOIR PRINT!

MY TABLE BUDDIES...

Jackie Huang
Russell Chong

ALSO CHECK OUT BOOTH 1329 (More co-workers)...
Killian Plunkett
Thang Le
Wayne Lo
Jackson Sze
Bosco Ng
Le Tang
Steward Lee

WALL-E

2008-07-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

So I've seen this movie twice now, and it just keeps getting better and better. I loved this film. Half way thru the movie I had no idea what was going to happen next. And if you're a regular movie goer, you know that's a rare thing. Those Pixar guys just make good movies. Check out this cool interview with the director, Andrew Stanton...

ANDREW STANTON INTERVIEW

And for those of you that have seen the film...(possible spoliers)

BUY N LARGE WEBSITE

GO SEE IT NOW!

SFO AIRPORT SKETCHES

2008-06-26T00:44:00.000-07:00

I took a quick trip down to LA for a friend's wedding and got to fill out a couple sketchbook pages while waiting to board and for my shuttle to arrive. Quick tone pass in Photoshop.

TRAILERS AND CARDS, OH MY!

2008-06-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Things are moving along great and the company is releasing some of our work to the public (which is really the only time I can talk about it). Lucasfilm has announced that our new show is going to premiere in theaters as a feature film on August 15 and then air as a half-hour TV series in the fall on Cartoon Network and TNT. They've released a couple trailers too!...

They even made a poster for theaters...
Lucasfilm has also announced that we've been asked by Topp's to create a series of 'Artist Sketch Cards' for their future 'Clone Wars' card series.

And I was lucky enough to get a stack of my own to do. 66 to be exact. It's a pretty cool idea, a kid can go buy a pack of cards and they just might get an original drawing out of it! Hopefully people will like what I did. I'll post a preview once I get the ok.

I'm in print!

PAGE O' P51's

2008-05-30T00:35:00.001-07:00

JUST ANOTHER LUNCH AT THE RANCH

2008-05-21T02:15:00.000-07:00

No joke. This actually happened at lunch today. We got a private airshow by a couple P51's during our soccer match. One of those moments in life you'll never forget. I love this job.

'MOM' TATTOO

2008-04-01T00:37:00.000-07:00

LUCASFILM CO-WORKERS!

2008-03-30T01:23:00.001-07:00

One of the things I like best about changing jobs is that I get to meet all kinds of new and talented artists. I've been fortunate to work with some amazing people in the past and here at Lucasfilm, it looks like my luck is going to continue. I've added some new links to my blog list. So if you have some free time and wanna get inspired, click on the links below!

Pitch Designs

2008-03-27T00:58:00.001-07:00

I was cleaning out an old folder of mine when I stumbled across some designs I did for a show I was developing called "Lutefisk". Not sure if I'll dust off the idea, but I liked what I came up with in terms of the look and feel.

Anthony Minghella 1954-2008

2008-03-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

I hate it when the phone rings early in the morning. Not because it interrupts my sleep, but because it usually has bad news on the other end. On Tuesday morning our phone rang and the world lost a decent, kind, and gentle man. And most importantly, a dear friend of ours lost her father.

Anthony Mighella passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 54. Way too early in his life and career. When you talk to him personally, you'd never know that he was such a successful director/writer. He was so soft spoken and humble. A real pleasure to be around. I'm glad we got a chance to spend some time with him.

He was most known for his writing, but it was the cinematography of his films that first knocked me off my feet. I thought "The English Patient" was one of the most romantic film ever put on screen. Full of dignity, grace, and utter beauty. I feel sad thinking about his family and the world that's going to miss out on the stories he had left to tell.

Cheap Models

2008-03-05T00:23:00.000-08:00

Your family is the best and most inexpensive models you can find! As you can see, we're also expecting one more model!

Spencer's a great model to study. He's quick so he makes for perfect gestures!

WONDERCON!

2008-02-25T00:10:00.000-08:00

I got a chance to stop by and see Comic Con's little sister, Wondercon! It's a lot like Comic Con, only smaller. And I'd have to say a bit more claustrophobic. At least in at the San Diego Convention Center, I feel like there's some open areas to go catch your breath. I never really got that at Wondercon. There were people everywhere! Plus you couldn't escape outside since it was raining! But I still had a good time seeing old friends and checking out the "Clone Wars" panel with some new ones! Kudos to Dave and Catherine for doing a great job!

If I was feeling better, I would have done a sketch or two. So in lieu of that, here's a sketch I did at last year's Comic Con...

NEW JOB!

2008-02-13T22:31:00.000-08:00

I've been gone for a while, but not without a good reason. I got a new kick ass job! I just accepted a postion at Lucasfilm Animation! I've been swamped with the move up to the Bay area and going thru training. Which I really can't complain about since I spent my first week getting trained in 3D at ILM! I took a job working in the 3D story department on the "Clone Wars" television series. Which ironicly has just been announced to air on Cartoon Network!

The coolest thing about this job (besides working on Star Wars of course) is that I get to drive onto Skywalker Ranch everyday!
The main house at the Ranch is nothing short of stunning. I just had lunch here with a fellow new employee, Ira Owens. We ate with George. Well, next to him.

It's really been a great experience so far and I'm really proud to be a part of the team here. I've got a lot to learn and even more to prove, which is why I've been away for a while. But now that I'm getting a bit more settled, it's time to start blogging again!

CARTOON NETWORK SHORTS

2007-12-14T10:05:00.001-08:00

For the past two years I've been working at Cartoon Network running their "new media" department. A fancy title that means I make shorts for all their current shows. I jump from show to show and make a series of 2 minute shorts. I initially was hired to make 90! And believe it or not, I'm almost done with those! That's over 180 minutes worth of footage!

The other interesting thing about my department is that it's run with just two people. Myself and a production manager (Nate Funaro). Of course we freelance out a bit. He have a couple writers and sheet timers that we like to use. But for the most part, it's just Nate and I. So I get to wear a lot of hats, and so do the shorts themselves. They have been aired on television, cel phones, podcasts, and even in movie theaters!

Now that I'm almost done, it's fun to look back on all the shorts and see what we've done. Follow the links to some samples...

*all shorts are copyright Cartoon Network ©

Amazing Screw On Head part2

2007-12-11T09:40:00.001-08:00

I was going thru an old folder of mine and I came across some boards I thought I'd post. I did this for Titmouse Animation back in 2005 I think. I had a blast doing this. Did it all in Photoshop. I submitted these to the Emmy's, but apparently the voters aren't Mingola fans. Or they just thought it sucked. Either way, I didn't hear anything. Oh well, there's always next year.

(click here for part one of my ASOH posts)

"BATHROOM BREAK" SHORT

2007-11-01T17:50:00.001-07:00

Someone posted on You Tube a short I made a while back. It's a "Gym Partner" short I directed, storyboarded, and wrote with Darrick Bachman. I thought it turned out pretty good. I liked the timing and pacing we got. Tony Tedford was the editor on this one and I can really see his fingerprint. Check it out before the CN police take it down (click on the image)

Jim Henson was brilliant

2007-10-26T00:55:00.000-07:00

It's easy to dismiss the work of Jim Henson as cute kid's fare. Stuff for 6 year olds. A lot of people overlook what Henson and his team did together. What they made together was nothing short of brilliant. Look at this scene from "The Muppet Movie". This is a song Gonzo sings after the gang's bus breaks down and it looks as though their plans to reach their goals have come to a dead end. Paul Williams' lyrics are elegant, poetic, and touching. Dave Golez gives a performance as Gonzo that is full of warmth and soul. It's an incredibly moving song that is easily overlooked. Not many films go beneath the surface and speak about something so deep and soulfull. I have no idea how this didn't win an Academy Award.

Oh, that's right...a puppet sang it.

3D FOSTERS EPISODE

2007-10-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

So an episode that I boarded is going to air this Friday. It's a Halloween episode and it's going to be in 3D! That's the good news. The bad news (especially if you're a kid) is that you have to make your own glasses to watch it! Check out the official site if you don't believe me. Luckily we've got glasses around the studio otherwise I'd have to make a trip to the craft store!

Check out the website for when it airs in your part of the world!

MORE DARK CRYSTAL VIS DEV

2007-09-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

BENCH WARMER

2007-08-30T14:39:00.001-07:00

Stranger on the Train

2007-08-16T02:33:00.001-07:00

VOLLEYBALL

2007-08-16T02:29:00.001-07:00

Spencer and I got to do some quality father-son time over the weekend. And what better way than to watch a little beach volleyball? He had the remote...

PICTURE PAGES...

2007-08-14T01:59:00.001-07:00

I'm supposed to be working on my Fosters freelance. This all started with one sketch and I just couldn't stop until I filled the whole page. Looks like Fosters will have to wait until tomorrow

don't tell Craig...

BACK FROM THE CON

2007-07-31T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's all over. I am beat! The experience of having your own table is an exhausting one. I met so many cool people. My voice is gone. Thanks to everyone that braved the crowds and stopped by to pick up a book. I really had a blast with it.
Here's me at my table. I have no idea why I made that face...

I had two of the nicest guys next to me. Josh and Justin Parpan. We got a couple prints and a book for Spencer too! Check out their art. They really are two talented guys. I was proud to sit next to them.

Here's a sketch I did of the two of them drawing

The best thing about Comic Con is coming home and seeing everything you got. It's like HALLOWEEN!

I got away from the table on preview night to secure an original Bill Presing piece!

Plus an original Derek Thompson!

I loved this figure by Chris Sanders.

Like I said. I met a lot of people!

For those of you that didn't make it to the Con and are interested in picking up a copy of my book, don't fear! You can order one simply by clicking on the Paypal button to the left and I'll get you one lickety-split!

SAN DIEGO OR BUST!

2007-07-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

See you geeks at the Con! And if you ain't goin', then you're just a dork that can't admit that you're a geek. I've got news for you. You're a geek my friend. So admit it and get yourself on the road! Last one there buys the beer!

COMIC CON!

2007-07-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

It's almost here! I'm pretty excited cause this is my first year where I have a table! I'll be at table #F3 (see map below).

I'm going to be selling a noir themed sketchbook that's being printed right now. I just got the comp last week and it looks great! I should've gotten a photo of it before I gave it back to the printer, but I was too excited to get the final printing going.

here's a preview...

If I can get away, I'm going to try and get some time to wander the floor. If you have a booth/table, let me know where you are!

See everyone in San Diego!

Drew Carey GREENSCREEN SHOW

2007-07-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a short I worked on for Drew Carey's "Greenscreen Show". My buddy Chris Prynoski directed it and I pretty much animated it on my own over the course of two weeks (Mike Roush did help out a bit too!). Not a hilarious piece, but I had fun merging the worlds. Notice my kick ass shadow work!...

Adventure has a name...

2007-06-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

He's back! Here's the first photo of old Indy.

DARK CRYSTAL

2007-06-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to say that this series will never be made (sadly). Here's some of the work I did in developing it. I'll post more if people are interested. Also check out some other work in a previous post (click here)

This was one of my favorites. Who doesn't love Skeksis?

UN-USED DESIGN

2007-06-11T00:31:00.001-07:00

I just found this old design when I was cleaning out my computer. It was a design I did for a title sequence for a horrible Randal Kleiser film, "Red Riding Hood". I think I like this one better than the one they chose. But what do I know?Here's another version of it. Different art direction on the line work.

CARTOON NETWORK Alien Designs

2007-06-03T23:52:00.000-07:00

CARTOON NETWORK just aired a stunt called "Invaded!", where 5 shows were all created with a common theme. Aliens are coming to earth and they want our cheese! They asked me to make a pass on a couple alien and ship designs that all the shows could use as a basis for their episodes. It was a lot of fun. Too bad I was never credited...

FINAL APPROVED ALIEN...

DISNEY SHORT

2007-05-30T23:28:00.001-07:00

I didn't get a chance to post this earlier, but a short I storyboarded on aired on Disney the other day. "THE IMPERFECT DUPLICATES OF DODGER DARE" is a Disney short that was created by Andy Suriano (a CN vet and fellow 'midwesterner'). Luckily someone posted it up on 'YouTube". My section is the montage "date" sequence.

NEW HD CAMERA! WOO-HOO!

2007-05-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally bit the bullet and got myself a camera. I got the Canon HV20. It's great so far. Shoots in HD and everything! It looks pretty amazing. See image above.

I shot a stupid little movie in my backyard to practice. I also got myself "FINAL CUT PRO" too, so I was also experimenting with getting something edited in that program. Here's the result. Nothing fancy. But hey, what do you care?!

No Trees Were Harmed...

2007-05-28T23:36:00.001-07:00

I've been experimenting at work with an easier and faster way to do traditional animation and I think I've come up with a good option. The test above is an animation I did entirely on a Cintiq using Mirage. I think it looks pretty convincing as graphite. And plus, it was really easy and quick to do. Instant pencil testing. The "YouTube" version is obviously compressed, so here's a larger image so you can get a better look. No more paper. My flipping is done with the arrow keys now!

YUCK!

2007-05-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just got my first good look at the designs for Michael Bay's "Transformers". What a mess! I'm sure he's got the best in the business, but man did something go wrong. All of them look so busy and void of any personality. The cars and ships they transform into convey more personality and emotion. Where is the eye supposed to look? You can tell that there's some Syd Mead in the designs, but even Syd Mead knew that you had to have a balance of simpilicy and complexity in a good design

Short Concept

2007-05-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to animate something to this particular piece by Ennio Morricone. Just last week, I came up with a little story about a boy on his big wheels. Here's a concept still frame and a bunch of designs of the little boy.

Fun With Brushes

2007-05-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

I usually only use Mirage for storyboarding, but for some reason today I started to play around with some fun and experimental brushes. In Mirage when you want to type text, you have to first create a brush and then stamp it down. A very annoying feature, but kind of cool if you actually just draw and paint with it. This image was created entirely with a brush of my initials "KM".

Mr Rico

2007-04-28T02:30:00.000-07:00

I finally got some time to sit down and take a sketch to a final rendered painting. Here's what I came up with. I also included the initial rough sketch and a sort of "inbetween" sample. Getting used to doing more Painter work. I think I may take the rough sketch in the previous post and render that too. I've been bitten by the rendering bug...

The Captain

2007-04-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Screaming Dude

2007-04-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

Nucleus Seminar

2007-03-26T00:34:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to get out today and see a seminar at Gallery Nucleus with the gents from the "Ancient Book of Myth and War" (Scott Morse, Don Shank, Nate Wragg, and Don Shank). They talked about their work process and how they came about making the art that's not only in the book but also in the gallery there at Nucleus. They did a great job inspiring all of us. Here's a little Painter experiment I did using the little pen sketches I did during the presentation. Check out the show if you can. It's really great!

Emmy Nomination!

2007-02-08T00:27:00.000-08:00

The Daytime Emmy nominations were released today and a short I directed got nominated! It's under a new category for broadband material. Content made specifically for celphones, internet, or other handheld devices. A short we made for Adam Burton's "Billy and Mandy" got the honor. My friends Darrick Bachman wrote it and Nate Funaro was the production manager on it. Can't wait to hit the event with them on June 15th!

UPDATE: Hollywood Reporter article

Fairfield goodies

2007-01-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

Leftovers

2007-01-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

Just a little leftover design I didn't post on the Fairfield blog. I'll probably continue to post more. I did a lot of work for it. This particular one is one I did at work on my Cintiq. A 100% digital sketch (Photoshop).

Fairfield Short

2007-01-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

Due to many circumstances, I've decided to "officially" close the book on the short I was making with a few friends. The film just caused more stress than it relieved. A short like "Fairfield" can't be made the way we were making it. I learned a lot from this venture and know better how to get something like this made. But none the less, a lot of KICK ASS work was done for it and the people who worked on it deserve their credit. Follow the link below

FAIRFIELD BLOG

Magazine Article

2006-12-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

I've been published! Well, sort of... A magazine called "Digital Content Producer" was doing an article on doing storyboards digitally and they contacted me at Cartoon Network to ask about Mirage. We supplied them with some art samples from one of the "My Gym Partner's a Monkey" shorts I directed and storyboarded. I guess that image is on the cover. They also have an article on-line about it. Check it out

Fosters Debut

2006-12-01T02:11:00.000-08:00

I've been burning the midnight (and weekend) oil on some Foster's freelance and I can finally get the rewards of all my hard work (well, besides the paycheck...) The first episode I storyboarded is going to air this Saturday at 2 and again on Monday at 6:30 (PST). I guess it premiered on Thanksgiving (before the "Good Wilt Hunting" movie), but I missed it! If you are as impatient as I am, then check out the you tube version. Gotta love those hard core fans...

When you storyboard you often don't have any designs to work off of, so sometimes you need to make a pass to have an idea. Below are my roughs for a gang of thugs in this particular episode. After I board the show, then someone much more talented than myself (in this case, it's the amazing Ben Balistreri) takes over and designs the final look for production.

More backs

2006-11-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

Elevator Action

2006-11-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

Sketchbook entry

2006-11-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

CNS storyboard notes

2006-10-30T22:12:00.000-08:00

I jump from show to show at work making these shorts, so I really need to be on the ball with a show's style. I end up doing a lot of work at the start so that it makes things go smoother later in the process. I spent some time today studying the storyboarding style of a show here called, "Squirrel Boy". Here's a page of studies I made from watching some episodes.

"The Uninvited" animatic

2006-10-30T00:40:00.000-08:00

Darrick Bachman and I wrote the Dracula short that's in the previous post. This here is an animatic of the storyboards I did for it (done entirely in Mirage)...

Billy & Mandy:"Uninvited" & "Party" shorts

2006-10-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

Here are the last two Billy birthday shorts! I thought these worked the best of the six.

Billy & Mandy:"Cake" & "Makeover" shorts

2006-10-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

They played two of the shorts in a row tonight. Only two more to show! Tune in tomorrow. Those two are my favorite.

Billy & Mandy:"Macaroni Man" short

2006-10-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

This guy is making my job easy. He's posted the second short too! It's the POV of Billy's birthday thru his parents.

Billy & Mandy: "Super Myron Brothers" short

2006-10-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

Someone posted the first short on You Tube! Here's the first one. Keep an ear out for the monster named Myron, I did the voice...not that you can really tell.

Billy & Mandy Shorts Premiere

2006-10-24T00:30:00.000-07:00

Billy Shorts Promo:

THEY'RE ON TV! Finally some of the shorts that I've been directing here at Cartoon Network are seeing the light of day. Apparently CN is showing the first batch of "Billy and Mandy" shorts I directed during a Halloween stunt this week. I guess they're playing a short each night this week at 7pm (I missed tonight's sadly, but I did get the promo).

I thought it would be cool to have all 6 of the shorts centered around one day and each short would be a different perspective on that one event. Darrick Bachman came up with the great idea that it would be on Billy's birthday. They turned out pretty good. Check 'em out if you get a chance.

Comic Con

2006-10-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

Why post comic con sketches when everyone else does? I prefer to wait months later to post mine. This dude screams Comic Con. He's got the look down. He was heading to the train, COVERED in various bags full of the weekend's spoils.

Another Train Sketch

2006-10-12T23:31:00.000-07:00