Draw Joe! Draw!

2011-07-04T02:49:00.001-07:00

Wow! It's been a while since I posted some of my drawings. I'm still working away at someday being an animator. Still a hold out for hand drawn animation! :)

My daughter asked me to draw an elephant with his peanut. So this is what I came up with. Peanut love. The one below it is from Don Bluth's animated segment in the movie "Xanadu". I love his goofy/twitterpated expression!

Here's a drawing I did from Disney's "The Flying Gauchito". The burro is such a fun little guy to draw.

This is Skippy from Disney's "Robin Hood". It was a great study and I love his expression.

Here's one great study from Eric Goldberg's book "Character Animation Crash Course". Putting some anatomy on an elephant character.

Another drawing I did for my daughter. We both love the Chuck Jones' WB short "8 Ball Bunny" and the cute little penguin in it. This is just before they find land after Bug's stops himself from eating the little bird.

Drew this one on Easter. Wanted to have a big footed bunny. Poor guy. All those eggs to deliver and he still has a smile.

2011-01-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while since I last posted huh? I'm still drawing away though. There's some original artwork mixed in with some more Preston Blair studies, Disney and Daffy from "Daffy Dilly". The Tom drawing is just a few days old.

I have a friend who draws cartoon Hamsters and said that shoes don't go well with her Character "Amanda". I took on the challenge and made a disco dancin' hamster. She was pleased.

The dragon is an original drawing of Eustace Scrubb from the C.S. Lewis book "Voyage Of The Dawn Treader". He was changed from a human to a dragon and is none too happy about it. Oh, and that's the gingerbread man getting swallowed by the fox from the original story. Anyway, here's my stuff.

Gator girl

2010-10-26T01:40:00.000-07:00

I've been working on character designs for my short film called "Freedom Train". This is the only daughter of the Quaker gator family that helps the slave dog family across the Underground Railroad. She been naughty and getting chewed out by Dad.

Toby Shelton's Toothless

2010-10-23T03:37:00.000-07:00

Please check out Toby Shelton's blog. He has such great drawings and instruction for those of us learning the craft. Thank you so much Toby. Here's my attempt at some of his drawings from early versions of toothless. I really like his rendition.

The Kiss

2010-09-27T03:53:00.001-07:00

I screen captured this scene from Disney's "Brave Little Tailor". I believe Fred Moore drew this. It was a joy to put together. Fred rocks!

Screwy Rabbit

2010-09-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

I saw a CGI clip of Roger Rabbit on Cartoon Brew that got me thinking of the original movie. I found this great take from the scene where Roger drinks some liquor. The bent up ears were so enjoyable to draw. I love cartoons.

Cookie's Jar

2010-09-20T04:19:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine draws dragons alot and I did a version of one of his characters called "Cookie". I'm trying to work on straights against curves.

Jungle Book Girl

2010-09-03T13:56:00.001-07:00

I found this great Jungle Book model sheet of "The Girl" at Animation Archive. Check it out here. I decided to try drawing a headshot of one of the poses. The softness of the face and wistful look had me erasing and erasing to try to get it right.

Bee Boppin'

2010-08-28T03:25:00.000-07:00

This little bee was fun to draw. I found him on an unreleased short from Disney called "Plight Of The Bumble Bee". Since I'm a big Fred Moore fan, this was quite a find. Here he is bouncing up and down on his stinger buzzing away to some Bebop.

Laughing Bunny

2010-08-28T03:19:00.001-07:00

Here's my attempt at one of the Sleeping Beauty bunnies. I located it on a model sheet found here.

The straights against curves are great!

B.B.'s Place

2010-04-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

I came up with this idea for a tv show called B.B.'s Place about a diner in the south where all the city folks pass through. It has some fun with the differences between country and city life. Here are some of the characters from the diner.

Meet Barn Bunny or as his friends call him B.B. He's the owner of the local diner/gas station/repair shop. B.B. is laid back and sincere. Most all the town comes to his place to have a burger and chat awhile. The town is very country and is just off the highway where many city folks commute to work. So there are a variety of characters that love to visit B.B.s Place. Here he is working and welcoming someone new.

This is Clem (An Opossum). He's the mechanic who also pumps gas for B.B.'s Place. Being B.B.'s right hand man has him always working. Clem is suspicious of just about everything especially city folk. He's a hard worker and is best friends with B.B. There's a soft spot in there somewhere...you just got to get to know him.

2010-03-02T10:15:00.001-08:00

Here are the character designs for Java Joy. The son's name is Garth and the Dad's Harold. The last picture depicts Harold waiting impatiently for his coffee. He's just a little addicted.

Java Joy - Story Board Thingy

2010-02-14T03:07:00.000-08:00

I was having a little fun doodling a Hippo Father and Son. Dad is happy go lucky and the Son is dark and moody. Came up with an idea for a quick story and here it is.

Bugs From Behind

2010-02-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

Here is Bugs from the hind quarters. This was a great lesson. Took me a while to get the hands together.

Bob Clampett's Bugs 1943

2010-02-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

Bob Clampett had a great Bug Bunny with Warners. I found this model sheet on John K.'s blog that has a laughing Bugs. So I had to try it out. You can see the model sheet here.

Claude the cat is worried

2010-01-17T03:28:00.000-08:00

This is from a scene in Chuck Jones' "Cheese Chasers". Claude has had it and is ready to be massacred by a dog. I don't show the dog pulling off Claude's blindfold. I just wanted to get the cat's feelings. Claude is one of my favorite Warner Brother's characters and this is one of the best shows he's in.

Red Hot Riding Hood

2010-01-15T03:45:00.000-08:00

Here's another one I wasn't sure if I could make it through. I drew the line of action first and build upon that. I've always been self conscience about how my female drawings will come out. Took awhile to get this one together.

Rabbit Unsure

2010-01-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

I screen captured this pose of Rabbit from "Winnie The Pooh and Tigger Too!" I thought I'd try to do some constructing and see if I could get a likeness. Rabbit is like a tear drop body. As I was drawing, I could see how his unsure look was put together. The upper lip, the scrunch in his nose, just a little eyelid droop, hands down and crossed, and ears sagging a bit. His lower body has a heaviness to it. Don Bluth did a great job in creating an emotion not just on the face, but with the body too.

2010-01-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here's my first shot at doing a Freddie Moore girl. You can check out an excellent depository of all things Freddie Moore here . It's a spanish blog and has some great stuff!

Boxing Bunny

2010-01-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

This guy was a challenge to draw. The construction really shows the line of action. Preston makes it look so easy. It ain't!

Tom in a mood

2010-01-08T03:41:00.000-08:00

Working on some more Preston Blair drawings. This one was a bit of a workout with the crisscrossed arms. He is not a happy camper!

Billy Boy

2009-12-07T00:10:00.000-08:00

Tex Avery did so many great cartoons. I've been watching a few and came across one called "Billy Boy". I always end up freezing a few shots to look at the animation. I stopped while the little billy goat dipped his head down and gave this cute look as if to ask..."Would you please let me in?". I haven't drawn too many cute drawings...so I gave it a shot. Cuteness is a very defined look and this was a great exercise.

Back from Michigan

2009-11-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

Went to see family in Michigan and haven't posted any new drawings. While I was on the plane I did a couple Preston Blair models. The wolf was fun and I tried to keep some of my construction lines visible with the fox.

Mice And Men

2009-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here's an article that was given to me a while back. It's great to see where Disney animation was at that time.

Tom Throwing

2009-10-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

I finally got a drawing tablet for the computer. It is called a "Bamboo" by Wacom. It is such a new experience drawing with it. I know the more I use it, the better I will get. This is my starting drawing so be kind. I was constructing like mad to get this together. Learning to draw correctly is going to be hard work and take lots of time. So I want to start right.

Drawing #13 - Mad Daffy

2009-09-25T15:18:00.001-07:00

I was watching "Duck Amuck" today and studied different parts of the animation frame by frame. The timing and expressions are priceless. I found my favorite mad face (and there were many!) and drew it.

Drawing #12 - Rabbit's Joy

2009-09-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed drawing this one, though it took a while to get the construction correct. This is a shot I found watching "Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too!". Rabbit ditches Tigger and comes up with this great smile. Don Bluth animated Rabbit and it shows. Lots of great emotion in every frame. Love it!

Drawing #11 - Preston's dog

2009-09-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

It sure is nice to draw on a real pad rather than on printer paper. Here's Preston Blair's dog. Worked hard on constructing this one right. Took a while, but it was fun. He's a happy guy!

Drawing #10 - Our dog "Ginger"

2009-09-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

I just bought a new drawing pad and was hot to draw something around the house. Well, there curled up on our new couch was our German Shorthair Pointer "Ginger". I sat next to her and did my best to quickly draw her before she moved. This is what came of the whole thing...

Drawing #9 - Drawing loose with Preston's Swing Shift Cinderella

2009-09-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

I was checking out a video that Don Bluth put together on learning to draw loose. I gave it a shot with Preston Blair's girl from Swing Shift Cinderella. No details, just loose drawing. This was a freeing exercise because I tend to hold my pencil way too tight.

Here's the screen shot I used from "Swing Shift Cinderella" animated by the one...the only...Preston Blair himself.

Drawing #8 - Sad Sasha

2009-09-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

Here's my attempt on making Sasha have a rough day. I tried to study what things give a character a sad look. The eyes, mouth, ears, head tilt, etc. She's not a happy camper.

Drawing #7 - Sasha

2009-09-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

Don Bluth has a great website where he's helping regular folks like me learn to animate. I've learned quite a bit about the process and he's got a "Cyber Garage Project" going that gives members a chance to animate a scene from a short film he developed. Here's a drawing of one of the characters called "Sasha". You can see the turn around reference here. She a cute little bunny.

Drawing #6 - Jeremy

2009-09-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Here's another "Nimh" picture of Jeremy the crow leaning back before he falls and sings about his future lady friend.

Drawing #5 - Mrs. Brisby

2009-09-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

I'm a big Don Bluth fan. Here's a shot from "Secret Of Nimh" where Mrs. Brisby is looking worried.

Drawing #4 - Preston's Barney Bear

2009-09-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

Barney has a great goofy look. Fun to draw.

Drawing #3 - Preston Bear 1

2009-09-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

Check out this happy bear. Boy...if I could be this content.

Drawing #2 - Preston Blair Egg Heads

2009-09-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

Throughout this blog you'll find drawings that I'm working on from an online copy of Preston Blair's original book called "Advanced Animation" or otherwise known as the "$100,000 Animation Drawing Course. You can find it here. For us broke Dads out there who want to learn to animate, this is a treasure. Here is my first attempt at some egg heads from the book. It's great in learning construction of a simple head.

Drawing #1 - Kip

2009-09-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a little drawing of a character I call "Kip". He represents my lack of confidence in drawing. He's not quite sure of himself and neither am I. Someone asked me if Kip is a canine and he is. So I thrust my drawings out there and see how things progress (Lord willing) or regress.