The Monster Squad

My friends and fellow improvisers, Christian Roman and Don Schmidt, joined me for this year's costume contest. We went as younger versions of the Universal Monsters applying for a transfer to Monsters University. No word yet on the status of our application.

 

Yet another improviser, Kitt Hirasaki, about to get a nasty hickey from Drac. Someone should have told the count that "Nein" means "Nein!"

Super villains unite! Dark Helmet and Magneto were both entirely hand-made. Magneto may be able to move metal, but Drac can move Halloween merchandise!

If you have any pics of your Halloween brilliance and/or atrocities, please leave a comment below! If not, enjoy those raisins and smarties!

0 days...Happy Halloween!

All Hallow's Eve

Why the Hawaiian jack-o-lantern? Why the iron nails instead of bolts? These questions (and more) will be answered on the brand-spakin-new blog for my non-Pixar short film, Nail'd.

Check in for weekly updates and watch as my crew and I navigate the stormy seas of animation!

0 days...Happy Halloween!

Another Day, Another Birthday Card

This one's for my friend Rob, who grew up in San Diego. I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been to spend your childhood in such close proximity to the world's most notorious killer whale.

12 days...

Drizzle fo Shizzle

A birthday card for my buddy Paul, who is used to follow the adventures of the emo drow Drizzt when he was a kid. 

Drizzt has a panther and a possible bi-polar dysfunction, so I couldn't help but whip up a little illustration to go along with Paul's bday present: the Drizzt game that debuted today.

You're welcome, pal.

13 days...

The Halloween Tree

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a tradition of giving my mom a decoration for her Halloween Tree (which was made by my brother) every year, for her Birthday.

This year, the card itself was a decoration. Christmas Trees have tree-toppers, so I figured my mom's Halloween Tree deserves nothing less. And what better Halloween icon than the Jack-O-Lantern?

You can see some of the previous years' decoration/presents above. It was my step-dad Steve's birthday, too, so he got some wine with a Halloweeny skull-bottle-stopper.

On the other side of the card was the limmerick:

The witches are singing from brooms in the sky

While every ghost calls with voices on high

Rather than "Boo!"

It's "Happy Birthday, you two!"

Then they dig into their pumpkin pie.

I may just use my mom's Halloween Tree as inspiration for this week's Chades Challenge: Wicked Trees!

14 days...

Breath of Embers Process

Here's a quick concept-to-completion look at my Breath of Embers pieces for Gallery Nucleus. Thanks to my friend Cassia Harries for the gallery pics!

"Loch" 

 

 "Stock"

 

"Smoking Barrel"

The show will be running through October 31st. If you're in the LA area, make sure to stop by and check out the other winged terrors!

17 days...

The Emeryville Horror

At Pixar, no one can hear you scream...unfortunately, everyone can hear you sing. 

Our theatre troupe, The Improvibles, is doing a horror musical this Friday. I know it's supposed to be an entirely improvized performance, but I'm already planning to launch into this song as our show closer. 

19 days...

Breath of Embers

"Loch"

8x10, watercolor and ink

These are the pieces did for the Breath of Embers show at Gallery Nucleus. The pieces are available for sale at the store website. 

"Stock"

8x10, watercolor and ink

Dragons are infamous for snatching fair maidens from their castle towers. While it's true that maidens are a wyrm's favorite meal, they are far and few between. A plump aurochs is the most plentiful prey, particularly for the Draconis Dreadlochsi, or common Scottish Dreadloch. 

"Smoking Barrel"

8x10, watercolor and ink

These plein air paintings, drawn on the spot in actual dragon territory, attempt to capture the behavior of the common Dreadloch in his natural environment. It took a while for the farmer and I to coax a dragon close enough to my easel for me to paint, but the art was well worth the wait! 

19 days...

CHADES CHALLENGE LX: JUBILANT VAN HELSINGS

When you've survived the depths of macabre that Abraham Van Helsing has, there isn't much jubilation left in your soul. Here the professor is, absolutely elated at having rid the world of its last sparkly emo vampire. Abe may not be the kind of guy you'd invite to a party, but he's the first one you want there when you notice one of your guests doesn't cast a reflection in your living room mirror.

If you have any Jubilant Van Helsings, let me know and I'll post them below. Otherwise, you can join in October 21st for...

CHADES CHALLENGE LXI:

 WICKED TREES

Colleen "The Bride" Madden

Guillermo "Van Helsing" Martinez

Lauren "Mistress of the Night" Kvalheim

22 days...

"Breath of Embers" Teaser

This Saturday is the opening night of the "Breath of Embers" show at Gallery Nucleus. Swing by and check out some amazing dragon art. Here's a peak at my submission.

Don't mess with the bull, my friend...

23 days...

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

 "The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

I was just saying the other day how Steve Jobs is this generation's Walt Disney. Steve may not have been a filmmaker or professional storyteller, but like Walt, he was a visionary and a dreamer.

In 1986, Steve bought Lucasfilm's computer graphics division. The Graphics Group, which was soon renamed Pixar, was just another high-end software company at the time, working for medical and government agencies. Pixar would have most likely flourished as a tech company, but Steve could see that Ed Catmull and the other Pixar founders were still storytellers at heart. He took a chance, and invested in his friends' dreams.

Thanks in part to Steve's vision and support, Pixar is now the most successful animation company in the world. The culture here at Pixar still reflects much of Steve's forward-thinking, trail-blazing attitude.

Thanks for your brilliance and generosity, Mr. Jobs. I think I'm going to go order an iPad now.

Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech to Stanford University: 

"How to Live Before You Die"

24 days...

"Persist" on KCRW

My little letter to Willie Downs' Animator Letters Project got some air time this week on KCRW. Check out their website to listen to the whole show, which includes an interview with Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter (unfortunately not related to my portion of the show).

On a completely unrelated note: Happy Birthday, Mom (she's the one on the left)!

My mom loves Halloween, so my brother made a "Halloween tree" for her a few years ago. I've made it a tradition of getting her a new tree decoration each year on her birthday. If you guys have any good ideas for  this year's Halloween decoration, leave a comment! Grazie!

26 days...