Every once in a while, you just want to draw something cute. Today is not one of those days.

Chades Challenge XI: Sweaty Bikers (Week 2)

Other Chades Challengers:
Josh "Boss Hog" Billings
Moro "Full Throttle" Rogers

No new Chades Challenge this week. The Afterworks deadline looms ever closer...

Ollie Johnston (October 31, 1912-April 14, 2008)

Any animator worth his salt owns at least one copy of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston's The Illusion of Life. The book offers the wisdom Ollie collected over the forty-three years he worked at Disney, creating some of the world's most memorable characters (including two of my personal favorites, Merlin and Baloo). More importantly, The Illusion of Life reveals the importance of fellowship, and learning from your peers. Over the years, the names Frank and Ollie have become almost inseparable. These two embody the golden age of classical animation and, for me, childhood in general.
My favorite animated scene of all-time is their squirrel sequence from Sword in the Stone. Within a few minutes (and hundreds of Ollie's gorgeous drawings), we are taught about having the faith to leap, the courage to fail, and we are introduced to the most powerful force on Earth...even more powerful than gravity.
At Frank Thomas's request, the sequence was played at Frank's memorial. So here it is again for old Ollie. Frank and Ollie's squirrel sequence
And for those of you unfamiliar of the man that helped invent animation, here's his story.
Thanks for the magic, Ollie!

Addendum 4.18.08
Disney's Farewell to Ollie
The Disney Company on Ollie Johnston
Brad Bird on Ollie Johnston

Chades Challenge XI: Sweaty Bikers

"You been messin' with my bike, little man?!"

Biker scouts: long beards, short fuses. Next week: Sweaty Bikers, Round 2!

Greg Montemurro's Jordan vs The Peacock
This is easily the funniest thing I've seen since The Vader Sessions, and a testament to the versatility of a John Williams score.

AFTERWORKS PREVIEW I

Here's a sneak peek at my contribution to E-ville Press's Afterworks Volume 3. Afterworks is a graphic novel comprised of short comics made by a bunch of Pixarians in their free time. From what I've seen of everyone's stories, it promises to be a pretty sweet collection. Before I ever wanted to be an animator, I wanted to be a comic artist and a paleontologist. This project is definitely an outlet for those two passions. After ten years of repression as I focused on my animation, my inner comic geek and dino nerd will finally have their day!
More art coming soon...

CHADES CHALLENGE X, WEEK II: MOSSY HELLBOYS
In retrospect, I didn't really incorporate a great deal of moss. These were fun to draw, though, and that's all that counts. Anyone seen the new Hellboy trailer?


Other Mignolites:
Josh 'Lobster' Billings
Leo 'The Brazillian Devil' Matsuda
Steve 'Right Clockhand of Doom' MacLeod
Moro 'Kambodia HotHELL' Rogers

By the way, everyone is welcome to join the Chades Challenge. Every couple of weeks we choose a new subject based on a random pairing of an adjective and noun. We spend a few days sketching ideas, and post the brilliance on fridays.
Next week, Chades Challenge XI: sweaty bikers

Results of last week's poll: Which summer blockbuster are you most looking forward to?

The Dark Knight 42%

Indiana Jones IV 38%

Iron Man 15%

Speed Racer 5%

Hellboy II 0%

The Incredible Hulk 0%

I drew this a few days ago when Indiana Jones IV had a commanding lead, and planned on posting it with a terrible caption like "Indy gives Batman quite the whipping!" Let this be a lesson to all of us: never underestimate the Batman.

Chades Challenge X: Mossy Hellboy
"Eat fist, you swamp...THING!!"

The Challenge:
Chades Challenge homepage

Other Chades Challengers:
Josh Billings
Steve MacLeod (even though he says they're not ready, I say they're awesome!)
Leo Matsuda
Moro Rogers

Next week: more Hellboys! More moss!

Justin Wright (March 8, 1981-March 18, 2008)

This is the last post I would ever want to make. My best friend (seen above, first Jedi on the left) passed away this week. We went through school together at CalArts, graduated the same year and were hired together at Pixar the same month. Our birthdays are even one day apart. I take a great deal of comfort knowing that he lived an amazing life, accomplished all of his dreams, and had a very strong relationship with God. Justin was one of my favorite people to pitch ideas to. Any time I was working on a serious drawing, Justin is the one I'd show, and he was never afraid to let me know if the drawing really stank. But when he didn't like something, he always offered advice on how to make it better, ways it could be improved. I'm devastated at the notion of having adventures without my buddy, but I'm strengthened by the lessons he taught me and the almost disproportionate amount of laughter we shared. I can't wait to see him again, but until then...to infinity and beyond.

Justin Wright's blog: Charlie, A Deck Hand
Cartoon Brew's tribute
PUC's alumni page