stolen time

Snuck in some doodle time today... this very moment, to be exact.

Thought I should post something.. so here ya go.



I've been super busy lately. I guess that's good.
talk soon,
Phil

oh yeah and... buy Venture Bros Season 2 dvds for the whole family.

King Triceps: a Billy and Mandy design

Here are some drawings of King Triceps. He was for an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy entitled "Hey, Water You Doing?". It was boarded by Mr. Ian Wasseluk. Ian likes doing spoof jokes, and Triceps was one of those. He's part King Triton from The Little Mermaid and part Macho Man Randy Savage. It was a fun (and difficult) episode to draw. There were a ton of new characters in this one.

Designing on Billy and Mandy was kind of tricky. The show tends to be a mish-mash of design sensibilties. The characters have a lot of very graphic elements, but also tend to be equally fleshy. I was constantly trying to find my balance of those two things. My attempts, successful or not, were always fun to create. And I really credit Maxwell Atoms for trusting his designers, and allowing us to experiment quite a bit on our own.

At times, this made for some of my most confident drawings, and at other times I felt lost in the woods behind the Oakwoods playing with fire crackers.

The nice thing was that I had quite a bit of reference from previous seasons to refer to when I really got stuck.

...this is sort of a tangent, but....

C.H. mentioned on his blog, the difficulties in breaking down his personal style on Chowder so that us designers could use similar theories. This was and will always be a very effective and direct method of getting into the head and hand of the guy that pretty much did the first set of drawings straight from his gut. But hat I find to be the best way to create designs that match the spirit of a new show is to really look at work that may have influenced the creator/designer. So besides trying to look at every scrap of paper with a drop of the Greenblatt magic, we're looking at a lot of Aragones, Coker Jr., Bradfield, Toriyama, and Scarry. It's been a really fun and educational ride.

... off the tangent...

I just realized that I've posted 2 different sets of mermaid designs from B&M, I swear I don't have a mermaid thing.

well... maybe a little bit,
phil

...and a big thanks to Amanda for making me that sweet "Uncle Phil" stamp you see on those designs.

even more Chowder scraps

Dear lovely Carl,

I made this picture for you, but you picked a different picture. That's okay. I liked the picture you picked the best. So now, I leave this picture for everyone else to see. Even though they aren't as lovely as you.

see you in gym class,
Phil

Chowder Head

Sorry for the lack of posts. The past few weeks have been extremely busy and I'm feeling a little under the weather right now. I did find some time to catch up on my Battlestar Galactica. I suggest that everyone else catch up as well.

Here's a sketch of Chowder that I happen to like. I'm not sure if i still like it after the somewhat self-indulgent photoshop job.




hitting you with the deuces,
Phil

feeling: hot and stuffed up
listening to: a fan and some sniffles

Girl Sketches

Over at the Meathaus blog, they posted a link to some new images from a REAS (Todd James) gallery show. Todd's work is crazy inspirational to me. His work is full of childish energy filtered through an adults eye. He's one of those guys that really makes it look easy... And he's an incredibly nice guy.

After looking at Todd's work early friday morning, I spent any doodle time during the day to put together this page. There are some moments I like, many I don't. I'm particularly pleased with those red hands and the topless girl on the right side of the page. I definitely enjoyed playing with a red sharpie.



Bomb pops, bloody hammers, Steel Battalion,
Phil

Sunday Chicken

A chicken for my lady.

Table Scraps

Here's what you may or may not have seen on my desk that may or may not be for work if you did or didn't stop by my cube last week.


yup,
up

feeling: sleep sauce
listening to: Hatori sauce

mouthing off

Here's a page of mouth shapes I did for a quick freelance project. The client is developing some products and they're sort of stumped with different ways to go with the character's mouths. They have a few approved designs and asked me to just give them some new mouth ideas.

I love doing freelance like this. I'm given a fairly open ended assignment and have a lot of creative freedom. These jobs don't come along all that often.

So yeah, here's some mouths.... a handful of which i like, a few duds in the mix, but that's okay; they were looking for quantity.

I painted them up just for kicks... Oh the kicks I had.



keep on kicking,
phil

quick sketches

Here is a quick warm-up page of Groo sketches. And an elf that didn't make the final cut.


late,
phil

Chicken Scratch 02

Some advice from a guy (not me) worth taking advice from...

Mr. Maxwell Atoms, creator of "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy", started a blog.... finally. He's posted some advice about getting into the animation industry. I think he stresses a lot of great things (and he mentions me as well). The most recent post, Jan 8th 2007, is about having a strong portfolio, I think that there are a lot of people reading this blog that could really benefit from what he has to say.

Go and read it.

I present: Sparagmos Industries

88 degrees is hot Hot HOT!

It's January 8th and it's 88 degrees outside today. Its days like these that I miss the seasonal change back in New York. Nothing beats the empty streets of Manhattan after a heavy snowfall. The silence is almost deafening, sounds being muffled by the blanket of snow. It's the only time that the city really sleeps.

... whoa, that was some mushy nonsense right there. And here I am, sweating my balls off, on January 8th in Los Angeles blogging about my NYC snow fantasies.... total crap.

...
And now for everyone's favorite; "Stuff You've Never Seen Before!"


This is the cover for "Patoruzu" issue #108. Drawn by the creator of Patoruzu himself, Dante Quinterno.


This beautifully drawn stip was in "Patoruzu" issue #86. I'm not sure who the artist is, but if anyone knows, please drop a comment. I know I've had some Argentines stop by in the past. Link to larger version.


These pages are from "Libro de Oro Patoruzu: 1961". They're drawn by Eduardo Ferro. Link to larger version.


Enjoy!

contemplating turning on the air conditioner,
Uncle Phil

Happy January 5th!

December is over, that feels pretty good. It was an incredibly busy month for this guy. How about you?

anyway....

I have some stuff to blog about in the next few weeks, so make sure to check back.... I'm going to attempt to analyze the "spotting of blacks" in one of my favorite Kurtzman comics. Also, I'd like to show you guys some sweet funny animal stuff. As well as announce a project that a friend and I have been trying to organize (slowly).

And maybe I'll post a drawing or 2 of my own...

Here are a few pieces I did as a commission for a Christmas gift. The framing is all photoshop, and I actually haven't seen the pieces printed and framed. I delivered Illustrator files, and I think they were going to be printed fairly large. I hope it all worked out okay.



Who else is dying to get a hold on a Wii?

see ya soon. UP

.. oh yeah.... check out the killer DVD box art Mr. Publick posted for VB season 2. It's tits!

bumped... again..

I drew this chicken 5 minutes ago.

It's pretty bad, but I had fun with it. I missed some of the real subtlety of true chicken-ness. Oh well. I think, tomorrow for breakfast, I'll try to draw a chicken again.

...

So, I had a pretty spectacular long weekend. Mandy and I took a long deserved vacation, and donated some money to a credit card company of my choosing. We saw some giant trees and took photos with lots of orbs. We drank tropical drinks at a variety of tiki bars and ate way too much food. We got to see old friends and made a few new ones. It was definitely a solid weekend.

I want to send an internet wide thank you to our gracious hosts, Nate and Crystal. You guys are awesome. Thanks again.

...

On a side note, I was reminded that over a year ago I wanted to 'blog' about the differences between a "Pixar Burger" and a "Lucas Burger".

I can't remember all of the intricacies of the essay I wanted to write, but what I do remember is that the "Lucas Burger" won, hands down. It was no contest really. I was told that all of the produce served at the Skywalker Ranch was grown on the grounds and that the meat was farmed locally. I mean, c'mon, how can you compete with that? Plus, that burger was eaten overlooking the majestic "Lake Ewok".

But don't count the chefs at Pixar out yet. They serve up one mean "Pixar Pepperoni Pizza". And we all know how much animators love their cured meats. Right Gweelok?

good morning,
Phil

Sunday Comics 11-14-06

This past friday marked my last day on "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy". It was an awesome experience, learned a lot, and made a ton of new friends. (I still hate you Alex ....and Mike Diedrich). But that's enough about me. Let's talk about Buddha.


As per cousin Stephen's recommendation I went ahead and picked up the first part of Buddha by Osamu Tezuka. It was going to be my post Billy and Mandy / unemployment treat. The plan was that I was supposed to wait until I finished my last day working on the show, and then I would sit down and blaze through it.

Well, two days before my last day I cracked, sat down and flew though the first 200 pages in one sitting... leaving the remaining 200 pages for my post B&M / unemployment treat.

And a treat it was. The story is really fun, with a great mix of adventure and fantasy. With some pretty serious drama as well. It gets a little strange to read at times because it will change tones so quickly. In one scene you are learning from a doctor that one of the main characters may die, but Tezuka adds a fairly zainy element by changing the design of the doctor 3 times in nearly subsequent panels. He changes from a fairly straight forward doctor design, to the doctor scientist from Astroboy (i think) to a caricature of himself (which, interestingly enough, he actually was a medical doctor). Strange..... I wonder if he was intentionally trying to break up the seriousness of the moment, or maybe on that particular day he was drawing those pages, he felt a little wacky. You know how wacky those Osamu's get.

What I really love about the story is how much it feels like it's borrowing from ancient myth. Yet still keeping the characters fresh. And if it's not actually borrowing, Tezuka has done a wonderful job creating a world that feels huge with beliefs even larger. There are so many things happening and themes to keep track of that at first I thought i would surely have to reread sections out of pure confusion, but never did I feel lost or confused.



I give this book a star on the scale of square to 7. Buy it.. and tell those Amazon's Uncle Phil sent ya.

Oh yeah, and the cartooning is masterful.

-p

Unused Billy and Mandy Design

This is a design I did (and was not used) for the forthcoming Billy and Mandy feature. I think it's going to air on Cartoon Network sometime next year, and will (if nothing has changed) be available on DVD shortly after it's air-date. It has lots of Fred Willard and some pirate zombies.


I think the design is okay, though it gets a little flat in places, but oh well. It's based off of a Maxwell Atoms board panel and I think i was able to keep most of the feeling he intended. The design in the film is closer to what my art director was thinking and looks a little more serpentine than these.

Daily Sketch

What started as a normal warm up drawing became something that I would revisit for a few minutes throughout the work day. I think I might keep up with these and try to make a little series out of it. I have so much fun working with just straight brush pen on paper. I feel like I'm ice skating, lot's of clumsiness, a few falls and collisions with walls, and the occasional moment of grace.



fax me,
UP

How is it that mom's chicken soup has super healing powers. Thanks mom.

Billy and Mandy Sketch.

This sketch came out of a conversation with Mr. C.H. Greenblatt. We were talking about how much we both enjoy Aaron Springer's Billy. I was trying to remember his treatment and did this sketch. They're totally all me, but the influence of Carl's boarding and Aaron's have rubbed off on me a bit. You should really see the way Aaron draws him, it's pretty funny.

I guess I'm writing because I wanted to mention my favorite part of designing a board-driven show. (I think it may also be the hardest part for me personally.) I love getting boards that are full of great cartooning and drawings that are not necessarily "on model" but are definitely in character. Sometimes I feel like as a designer all I'm doing is totally watering down funny drawings by trying to bring them more "on model." I'm supposed to be plus-ing them, but I find that I'm walking a pretty thin line at times. Some days I wish i could just blow up board panels and just clean them up as is. Leaving in all of the oddities that are particular to a specific board artist. I think that kids will still know that Billy is Billy, even if in the first half of the show he looks like Alex's and the second half like Carl's.

I think that one of the most amazing things about animation is that artists can leave such a personal mark. A mark that on some productions is supposed to be ironed and hammered away, into whatever on model / cookie cutter standard designs exist for the show. I know that there are some exceptions. Some shows do embrace stranger drawings more than others, and some may require a more standardized look for whatever reason. I don't even know if I have a point to make, but I guess that I'm just starting to really realize how much I appreciate it when the artist isn't removed from the art.

Or maybe I'm realizing that I want to be a board artist.

I dunno. I'm tired, and miss my cintiq.

-p

feeling: like the Apple Pan did me wrong today. bad apple pan.
listening to: my tivo asking if it can change the channel. good tivo.

******* ***.

The ******* *** pilot I worked on has surfaced (and sunk) over on Myspace Videos. It was a great project to work on, but unfortunately the network gods have passed on it. Maybe through some interweb white magic, it can surface again. The pilot is good, but the additional boards done by both Andy Suriano and Stephen DeStefano really made the show something different. Maybe Stephen can post some of his favorite sequences on his blog (don't think he can anymore).... oh yeah... Stephen has a blog!

real quick- I met Stephen while working on the Venture Bros (literally the day his interview in Draw came out). He was kind enough to give a total n00b like me some pointers, and began schooling me in the ways of the cartoon gods of christmas past. He's a great friend, amazing artist and teacher, and does a world class impersonation of Nien Nunb. Go to his blog.

here's the pilot (here was the pilot)...



and a few of my favorite designs..









i hope ya dig,
UP

what I've been up to

I've had a crazy month and this is one of the highlights.

photo by C.H. Greenblatt (back row L-R) an Anna Chambers' Proboscis Monkey, a blurry Gweelok, AJ "Nothing but net" Spalinski, your favorite uncle, Randy (Emmy Mug x2) Myers. (middle row L-R) total package Kristina, Little C, Billy. (front row L-R) Stephen of Stefano.

My Grandma (Little C) spent a week with me here in LA. That same week, Pete 'Gweelok' Browngardt, Grandmaster Stephen DeStefano, and myself met with development here at Cartoon Network. Our meeting went well, well enough that we should be busy on some pretty sweet stuff for at least the next few months, and hopefully will eventually lead to even more sweet stuff.

The pitch process was really quite the thrill ride. This was my first experience pitching traditionally and will definitely not be my last. I was lucky to be involved in a development cycle at Nick Jr. in New York. But that experience was much different, and all of our (Mike Oviedo, Rhada Blank, and myself) ideas were submitted on paper. We would receive feedback in person, but we never got to talk through our ideas with the people making notes. It felt cold at times, and the notes tended to contradict themselves, but it was a great learning experience that I was lucky to have... and our show made it fairly far into the process. Oh well....

But yeah... pitching at CN was awesome. Sitting besides Stephen and Pete was great enough, but sitting across from Craig McKracken, Rob Renzetti, Heather Kenyon, and Alex Manugian was the real icing on the cake. A handful of my animation heroes in one room, listening to us talk about know-it-all mechanics, pete's love of older men, the lack of good soap operas, uncles, uncles, and more uncles (coincidence, i swear). My only regret was that Little C wasn't in there with us, but then again, she was pretty busy cooking meatballs. And delicious they were.

Sunday Comics 07-16-06

You guys sick of Guillermo Divito yet? I'm not. Here are a few originals from my collection / obsession ....







gotta get back to my Sunday,
phil

listening to: a Scandinavian typing an ad to sell his couch in NYC.... anyone need a couch?

feeling: like a million ducks

Anniversary

July 5th marked my 1 year anniversary in Los Angeles. It's been a wild ride, and I've had the pleasure of meeting some really great people. I miss New York, and the people in it mostly, but my old friends in LA along with some new ones have really helped me make it feel more like home.

Thanks everyone.


pumping the mega-mix,
Uncle Phil

sketch dump 06-20-2006

Day 8 of 8

I can't believe it. I actually made it through 8 days. Small goals, baby steps, the path to success. Someone buy me an icecreams.



-p

oh, and Andy's t-shirt is being printed at Threadless! Go buy one for the whole family.

Sketch dump 06-19-2006

sketch dump 06-18-2006

Day 6 of 8



My first non-post-it drawing of the potential side kick for my Kosmonaut. Some personality is missing, but it was the first.

feeling: sunburnt and sleepy
listening to: the song-like whisper of a new air-conditioner

g'nite,
Phil

sketch dump 06-17-2006

This lovely lady is actually inspired by a kid I went to high-school with. Between classes he would walk outside of the building in front of a section with large windows. He would collect any birds that had accidentally flown into the window, and take them home to practice his taxidermy.

Last I heard, he is now in Pennsylvania and has a large collection of (live) exotic animals.

saturday,
Phil

sketch dump 06-16-2006

Ever feel like you're straddling the brink of insanity?

POST-ITS!



feeeling: waxy

sketch dump 06-15-2006

Day 3.



.... That was a good question Mike. The truth is, I have no clue were my style is going. I'm just making sure I enjoy the ride. I feel like I've definitely come a long way, and that keeps me going. As a designer, I think my greatest strength is my willingness to work in a very wide range of "styles" and aesthetics. This keeps work really fun, but I think that I stumble when it comes to my own work. I find myself asking the question "How should I draw this?" instead of just drawing, and allowing for my stuff to evolve naturally. So yeah, I have no clue where my work is going, and as long as I'm having fun, I really don't care. Both Mike and Albert probably have a better idea than me of where my work's headed, just because you guys know where I've come from (Oral Hi-jinx *cough* *cough*).

see you when I see you,
UP

sketch dump 06-14-2006

Day 2.



Gotta love post-its.

... And it's my little sister's birthday!

sketch dump 06-13-2006

I was going to post a bunch of drawings, but I thought I could stretch them out over a few days.... 8 days to be exact.

Day 1.



This is what sketch pages of mine typically look like (...like you care). It's 100% completely unaltered. I find that these drawings are actually less about the "finished" drawing, but more about enjoying the liveliness of brush pen on slick copier paper. Lots of happy accidents occur, and it's a great way for me to experiment with design ideas and different types of mark making.

I also updated my links. They're completely unorganized, but they've been long over-due. The whole blog's going to be a-changing soon, so hold on to your pants.

I'm done. See you tomorrow.

listening to: The Raincoats, Black and White

Hey, hey, hey. Hey ladies.

There are two great sets of posts going on right now, both dealing with great drawings of women. First is on Blackwing Diaries; there are a ton of Freddie Moore drawings, most of which are his signature appealing women. This guy's amazing in my opinion. His girls are solid as hell, but delicate as lace... that's good drawing.

Secondly, on Eddie Fitzgerald's Theory blog, he talks about his theory of 'woman are just men with long hair and boobs'. Supported with some amazing examples of hilarious cartooning. Don Martin and Milt Gross to be exact.

So tonight I watched England and Hungary play a friendly pre-World Cup match and decided to plop myself in front of my tv and draw some girls. Here are a few of them, with some self indulgent grey-tones.... well, actually, I think the drawing's themselves are pretty self indulgent. They're not quite as sensitive as I would have liked, nor do they really illustrate any idea or emotion. Oh well.

These are much more in the Fred Moore school of drawing versus the Milt Gross. I think I'll sit down tomorrow and try to grow some balls and do something funny.

Hope ya dig.






...and go buy the Venture Bros Season 1 boxed set.

-Phil

.....i'm not kidding. buy it.

Sunday Comics 05-29-06

Here is a Guillermo Divito original scanned for your eyes only. This guy aint half bad.



-p

awesome dudes

Part Greystoke, part Barbarian, part Hulkamaniac. Completely awesome dudes.
what was I thinking?




more stuff to come in a much more timely manner.

promises,
phil

space mechanic sketches

here are a few quick Kosmanaut sketches. be warned, some a pretty ugly. like the top right one on that first page. i don't even know what i was thinking.





can you smell the C.H. Greenblatt influence on some of these? I can, and it smells like bromance.

-p