Every Day is Special

Image: Every Day is Special
Notes: This is a piece I sketched while watching the Oscars and talking to my good friend Greg on AOL instant messenger. Its times like these when I sit up and think about it that I realize who my friends are. Greg's is one of the truest I could ask for. He's always there to reassure me when I'm down, always there with a kind word or a new song that I haven't got in my collection. He's always there with a smile (yes I can tell in the text...don't you judge me :P) and if he were here on the East Coast I'm sure he'd be here with a hug. This one's for you, Greg ol' Buddy.

Sketched in Open Canvas
Inked and Colored in PhotoshopCS2

Tiny Toons Cougari

Image: Tiny Toons Cougari
Notes: So I was sitting down last night messing around on Youtube when I came across some old Tiny Toon Adventures clips. That show was one of my favorites in the 90s. The colors were so vivid, the characters, no matter how crudely drawn at first were lively and expressive and the stories were well written. I was always a fan of Bugs Bunny and all the Warner Bros. Cartoons when I was growing up. It was one of the driving influences of my style back when I was learning how to draw. Here's my homage to Tiny Toons.

Image: Progress of Tiny Toons Cougari
Notes: Here's my usual process. I sketch the image in Photoshop or Open Canvas or on paper and scan it in to the computer. I open up photoshop and create lineart based on the sketch. Then I add flat colors and shading and highlighting. To make it more consistant with an animated style, everything is very simplistic.

We're the Chipmunks

Image: One Chip and Two Misses
Notes: The title for the piece is a play on a title of an old Chip and Dale cartoon from Disney called Two Chips and a Miss. I do so love character design. When I was a kid, I had the VHS tape of 'The Chipmunk Adventure' and played it constantly. I now have the DVD and play it in just the same fashion. The Chipmunks, those lovable squeaky voiced scamps, made my imagination run rampant. I found, through searching on the internet, someone that was selling scans of the model sheets used to make that movie. The model sheets tell in detail how to draw the character from various angles so that any artist can draw the characters in the style required for a feature film. I was fascinated by these sheets. I studied them a bit and decided I wanted to draw my own version of mine and my friends' characters as characters from the Chipmunks. This is the result. PS: The sheets also included the Pantone color charts for the characters. I feel like it was a great find, and I would love to do more art using those sheets.

Let's Go Surfin' Now

Image: Surf's Up!
Notes: Anyone who knows me knows that I like to push the realms of expression. In the chill of winter there is nothing I find more pleasing than going to a place in my art that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. The animal pictured here is a Red Panda and he's surfing. What's more warm and fuzzy than that? I'll also add that I really suck at backgrounds. Most of them are very minimal, very simple and plain. For this piece though I feel like it fits. SURF'S UP DUDES!

Cougari Model Sheet

Image: Cougari Model Sheet
Notes: Over the years, Cougari has gone through many many changes and revisions. Many characters grow with the artists who design them. I originally designed this character back in 1997 in my last year of high school. Cougari started off as a fan character from the Walt Disney film The Lion King. Over the years I tried to grow away from that and made her into a character who, to me, has become something of her own presence.

About the Character: Cougari is just a fun loving little cartoon cougar. She's expressive, wild and friendly with a love for sweets, television and movies, music and games. You can always find her perched in front of a television with a bowl of popcorn or sitting in a movie theater in similar fashion.