Merry Christmas!

These are some concept drawings from 2008 that are still being used in the theme parks today. The costumes were changed on some of them, I noticed, for the final art - and it turned out very nice! I was overjoyed to see it on banners and merchandise at the Magic Kingdom recently.

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sketch to Paint

This is a spread from "The Spooky Sound", which I had the pleasure of illustrating for the Step into Reading series for Random House. I usually start with a small thumbnail and then, once my final pencil is approved, I proceed to paint.

John Henry

For the animated short "John Henry", we cleaned-up the rough animation in a very loose, sketchy style. It was a very enjoyable project to be a part of.

Rapunzel

My family and I just saw "Tangled" today, and loved it. Congratulations to the crew, to the directors, Byron and Nathan (whom I had the pleasure of working with years ago at the Florida studio), and of course, to the one and only Glen Keane. The long wait for this film was well worth it, in my opinion, and I can't wait to see it again. Here's a rough sketch and tight pencil I did for one of the activity books.

"Beast"-ly work

These are some of the clean-up drawings I did for the "Human Again" sequence in "Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition" (released in 2002)- specifically the scene in which Belle teaches the Beast (or rather helps him relearn) how to read, using "Romeo and Juliet". It was certainly a joy to be involved in this film.

Happy Birthday pin

Here's a Happy Birthday pin I designed back at DDG. Tinkerbell's such a popular character, it's both challenging and fun to give her a new pose within an original composition and setting.

The Snuggly Duckling

Another page I penciled for a "Tangled" activity book, featuring the interior of "The Snuggly Duckling". This is one of two "find the differences" illustrations.

Tango

Here's an open edition pin I worked on back at DDG. The subject given was simply Donald and Daisy, and at first I was going to have her sitting on the piano with Donald at the keys, like a lounge act. But, after seeing the tango on "Dancing with the Stars", I figured this would be fun.

Happy Halloween

This is a pin I created for the 40th Anniversary of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, featuring the current attic scene with Constance. The grooms' heads are on a separate pin that can be pulled down, making it appear that their heads are disappearing as in the attraction.

Town scene

Another drawing I made for a "Tangled" activity book. The style of this film is going to be beautiful, from what I can tell - it definitely draws a bit of inspiration from Fantasyland architecture, in addition to plenty of European research. You certainly may have to click on this image once or twice if you wish to see the smaller details.

Matterhorn 50th anniversary pin

Here's a pin I designed for the 50th anniversary of the Matterhorn Bobsleds in 2009. I couldn't resist including my family in the image. The overall graphic design of this pin pays homage to the official sticker logo that still appears on the front of each bobsled.

"Tangled" activity book

Now that the books are showing up in stores, I thought I would show a couple of pencils I did for the "Tangled" (formerly known as "Rapunzel") activity book.

Pencil test - Curious George

Here is a pencil test for a scene I animated in the 2005 film "Curious George" (Universal), while working at Project Firefly in Orlando.

Matterhorn monster

Just for fun - here's the yeti in Disneyland's Matterhorn, also known to cast members as Harold. That attraction has always been one of my all-time favorites at Disneyland, if not my absolute favorite thrill ride. I really miss how the Skyway buckets would glide right through the mountain (once I actually reached up and touched the bottom of one as it passed over my ascending bobsled!). I was such a geek, I had actually painted a Matterhorn jacket, made three flipbooks about it, and made my second animated student film at CalArts about Harold getting laid off, finding work in the park's other attractions. Life imitates art, in certain respects....

Captain Hook as Jack Sparrow

This is a pin I worked on a few years ago for freelance, prior to being hired at Disney Design Group. I created the final pencil art, based on a rough concept by Garret Webb.

Roy

Just rediscovered this photo from 1996. I was at the wrap party for "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in Los Angeles, and got a picture with Roy E. Disney. He was always friendly and casual, even at big events like that. I used to see him every so often, particularly during the three years I worked on "Fantasia/2000" (he was the executive producer). Needless to say, I will always feel fortunate and blessed to have had the opportunity to work there, and was sad to hear of Roy's passing last December.

Cars Playland - Disneyland Paris

I did some art a while back for the new Toy Story Playland attractions at Disneyland Paris. Now that the new area has opened, I thought I'd post the drawings.

That ride looks like fun!

This last one is a meet and greet area near the Green Army Men parachute drop attraction.

I drew the soldiers with parachutes for the backdrop.

"The Spooky Sound" available

I just received my copy of "The Spooky Sound", the Cars book that I had the pleasure to illustrate for Random House. It's available in stores now, so if you happen to check it out, please let me know what you think!

WDW Radio Podcast interview

Last year, while employed by the Disney Design Group, I was interviewed on the WDW Radio Podcast. If you're interested, please click on the link below:

http://www.wdwradio.com/2009/02/show-104-feb-1-2009/

Van Wrap

This is some art for one of the vans that advertises the Disney Water Parks. I inked the final art digitally with Adobe Illustrator and painted with Photoshop. This particular Ariel is a revised version of one of her standard poses, adjusted and freshly illustrated for better placement in the seat (though the vehicle is not exactly 18th century).

Toy Story illustrations

I illustrated a short story with the "Toy Story' characters for a children's math workbook; this involved rough layout and final pencils.

"Woody's Wild Adventure" - chapter book

Here are some pencils that I rendered with... pencil! Helping out on this book was Lotso fun.

Toy Story 3

I was invited to help draw "Toy Story 3" characters for people who had just seen a special screening of the film at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Here's hoping the movie's a big hit!

Water Parks Billboard

Here is some of my art for another new billboard for Disney's Water Parks, along with some of the concept sketches.

Billboard for Water Parks

This is an illustration that I sketched, inked and rendered (digitally) for Disney's Yellow Shoes creative group, promoting Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Just saw the final version today on a billboard!

New Cars book

Here's a cover I did recently for a new Step into Reading children's book. It will be available in January 2011. This involved pencil sketch, clean-up, and some Photoshop digital painting.

Hitchhiking Ghosts lanyard pin

I had a lot of fun with this lanyard pin. We so often see the Hitchhiking Ghosts (unofficially named Phineas, Ezra and Gus) represented just as they are in the Haunted Mansion, it's fun to give them a different pose once in a while... as long as they continue to thumb a ride to fill their quotas!

If you look closely at the art, I included their initials. See if you can find plump Phineas' "P", eerie Ezra's "E" and grandpa Gus' "G"!

The Incredibles storybook

This is an illustration I penciled for "The Incredibles" storybook art pool. (The officer on the far right is a caricature of Alex Topete, my first supervisor back at Walt Disney Feature Animation.)

Incredibles 5th Anniversary pin

This is one of the very last pins I designed for the Disney Design Group last year, about this time. I've always enjoyed interpreting the Pixar characters into 2D drawings - it's like re-imagining the films as if they were traditionally animated. The interesting thing about Pixar merchandise is that there are three levels of stylization: 3D computer-generated renderings from the studio, highly-detailed and accurate drawings used for creating sculptures or big figs, and simplified art like this pin. Most of my Pixar experience is from the opportunities I've had to work on children's book illustration, and I'll always be grateful for that.

"Cars" Off-road Racers book

I was excited to see this Cars book on the local supermarket shelf the other day (it's one of those 2-in-1 books with a bunch of stickers in the middle). A little over a year ago, I had the pleasure of laying out and penciling the "Off-road Racers" story, which included a new character named El Machismo, a big Dodge monster truck. These stories are based on the new Cars Race-o-Rama video game. David Murray, a background painter for many of Disney's animated films (as well as an excellent screenwriter and novelist), did the digital paints for much of this book. Neither of us knew about each other's work on it until it came up in conversation, while we were working together on "The Princess and the Frog". It's a Small World!