Ta, Ta ,Tatata, Tatatata - Girl Show!

Here's a photo of me exploring the secret passages deep in the woods of my mind. I'm wearing my favorite shirt, and trying not to step in the orange-goo creatures.

It's one of the pieces I did for the Girl Show that opens this Saturday at the Nucleus Gallery in Alhambra. It's a painting done ontop of a photo I found in a thrift store.



I liked the fact that it said something on the back, which I scanned since otherwise you will never get to see unless you buy or steal it, and break off the frame.

I hope you like it!

Train Hoppin'

I've been riding the anxiety train that you step onto towards the end of any production. Usually it's a month-long rail pass. Yesterday I recieved really good news from my friends at Disney/ABC Family and can say that I switched lines. All-aboard the distracted-with-anticipation train! Yes, this post is vague, but so is most news you'll ever hear in animation.

Welcome to My (real) Life

If you've seen my film, Welcome to My Life (it's the second one on the page), and maybe even are a fan of it, here is a picture of the people behind the voices: my family. I'm in the back, you can see me peeking over my brother's fists.

Here is what we look like in monster form. Can you tell who is who?

Bagel Monday

Here's to the Bagel Mondays at IDT/Film Roman!

Iron Giant at LACMA

Tonight at 8:30PM they are screening the Iron Giant, one of my favorite animated movies ever, outside on the side of a building at LACMA! It's free, and parking is free, too. Bring food, friends, and a good time will surely follow. Click on the title of this post for more info.

A Very Sad Day

Joe Ranft, a very loved and extremely talented story man for Disney and Pixar, died in an auto accident two days ago. He was only 45 years old. Here is a link to Cartoon Brew, where you can find more information about him, and a link to the Hollywood Reporter article about what happened. It just reminds me of the importance of working on projects that you feel something for and with people that inspire you to be the best you can.

Lacking Inspiration for the Moment

The problem with being in a creative field is that you go through your great moments of creativity, and then some not so great moments. Lately I've been feeling in a slump as far as ideas go... Any ideas for inspiration?

Logans Run Chickens

I was wondering what the little clear bubble on these toy chickens was for. The best I could come up with is that they function somewhat like the lights in people's palms in Logan's Run

My First Oil Painting

So I decided to try doing an oil painting for the Girl Show that I'm in. It turned into a painting for the Monster Show which will be at the same gallery later this year. The first is the progress I made on the painting yesterday. The chicken scratches on the bottom is my preliminary rough...

Let me assure you that I dived in without any kind of helpful knowledge about how to oil paint... Trial by fire, I guess. Not always the smartest route.. but oh well.. I opened a can of turpentine, a jar of linseed oil, a jar of cobalt drier, some tubes of paint, and in I went. So any kind of information, or leads to places on the internet or at the library/amazon where I can find good tips would be very helpful to me.

My Talk with Totoro

Totoro, I demand that you let me come back to Japan soon so I can see more places like these,

and eat more food like this,

and this (best tonkatsu I've ever had, ever)

No Posts Last Week

This photo makes me feel better, regardless of how crowded and hectic things can get. Leave it to Japan to make even a breakfast pastry cute. And leave it to me to buy it.

Sorry for the lack of postings last week, but my schedule filled itself exponentially. I had a lot of meetings around animation town, pitching things and meeting with different people. Oh yeah, and then there's the full time job at the same time. I also, for the first time, watched "The Player," the movie about Hollywood, staring Tim Robbins. It made me laugh, because unfortunately it's accurate in a lot of ways.

Times are interesting now, as I am coming to the end of the job that I am at. It's in the weird and uncomfortable phase where you don't know what's happening... Yuck.

Also, I will be in the "Girl Show" at the Nucleus Gallery (and toy store, hooray!). Next post will have more info on it.

Franticly Prepared

Man! It's the day of the big Fadedcamel Show opening at Meltdown. Despite the preparations Hugo and I have made, I feel like I'm doing everything at the last minute today...

Anyway, while I run around in circles while patting my head and rubbing my stomach, here's the only color piece I have in the show. Enjoy, and I hope I see you at the show!

The Nicktoons Jury

I'm the one with the red shirt, standing next to Mark Hamill. From left to right: Mike Gabriel, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, Me, Mark Hamill. And did I also mention I'm standing next to Mark Hamill...

Read more here

My Friends

These are my friends that will be at the show on friday. If you don't show up, the one wearing the fez will eat your first born child. The green one might cry.

My New Best Friend

Orange Candies

It's amazing how many products there are in Japan with cute characters on them, or products made into cute characters. Since there was only so much room in my suitcase, I had to be a little selective towards the end. I finally broke down and bought one of these things. I picked the orange one with the angry face that's towards the top left of this photo. Upon bringing it up to the cashier, she said something to me in Japanese that I didn't understand, so I just nodded. She took the angry orange back to the pile and switched it with a happy one. Then I tried to explain to her that I wanted the angry one... so it was traded back for the original one I picked. She said there weren't very many of the angry ones.