Bandicoot Valentine

 

The Animation Academy is 25 Years Old

The Animation Academy is a school I launched 25 years ago today. 

On this day in the evening of January 19 in 1998 we had our first session in the back room of the Coral Cafe in Burbank California with 20 students. It was the flagship class of the Academy. I started the school with a small mailing list and $15 for stamps and envelopes to send flyers and enrollment forms. All available seating sold out.

Today after a quarter of a century I'm happy to say that the Academy is still going strong.

Thank you to everyone who has ever been a part of this great experience. My affectionate gratitude for these past 25 years and what they have meant.

KEEP CREATING FOREVER !!

Christmas 2022

 Merry Christmas friends and Happiest of New Years !!  :)

Montgomery Thump - Chapter 5

Things get sinister in the latest episode of Montgomery Thump and Timbuk Too! Follow the link to the Canvas section of Webtoon Comics to see what's up. 

If you're new to the series you can start from the beginning and get caught up...

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/montgomery-thump-and-timbuk-too/list?title_no=690071

Spyro the Dragon on January 30 1997

These drawings are from the original development of the character that would become Spyro.

It had been a little more than 2 weeks since I started to create the very first concepts for Insomniac Games. I was in the process of refining and defining. Insomniac was very excited about the character and the images I was coming up with. At this point in the creation of Spyro I was directed to really push his expressions.

This is the way it works. You dig and explore through concept sketches then as the character emerges a commitment is made towards the final design. Once you've nailed the look then you test it out and see how it functions through expressions and action / attitude posing as the personality emerges.

Note for historians and archivists: The pages are sequential but they're numbered incorrectly.

Montgomery Thump - Chapter 4 online

Intrigue plus a new character gets fired up! The next chapter of Montgomery Thump is on Webtoon Canvas. Lots more content on the way in days ahead. Follow the link.

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/montgomery-thump-and-timbuk-too/list?title_no=690071

Original Spyro Drawings from January 23 1997

These are pages from the development of Spyro the Dragon on this day Jan 23 in 1997.

I contracted with Insomniac Games to own my original art once it was used for production. It was a groundbreaking contract back then. Thus I have the unique opportunity to showcase these images.

There are 103 pages total that I created for this project. The pages here are numbers 41 through 44. They were misnumbered by someone at the company.

Spyro was really cracking the shell at this point. Insomniac was very excited. They knew they had a winner. Spyro continued to improve with the next round of sketches which I'll feature in a few days.

 

 

 

 

Latest Spyro the Dragon Drawing

It was 25 years ago at this time in January 1997 when I was at Universal Studios developing a special character for a video game project. This is a commission I finished earlier today of Spyro. Blue pencil and ball point pen on paper.

Montgomery Thump Online

I've published the first 3 chapters of my independent project online. Here's the link. Lots more content on the way. New chapters each Wednesday.

Montgomery Thump coming to Webtoon Canvas

January 19 2022 marks the 24th anniversary of my school's (The Animation Academy) very first class in the back room of the Coral Cafe in Burbank in 1998.
 
I'll be marking the occasion by publishing my first independent project. I've been developing it for over 40 years going all the way back to its inception in 1981.

This is the project that started the school.

It'll be featured as an online comic on the Canvas section of Webtoon.com. This is the self publishing platform of the site. Webtoon is the biggest online comic destination on the internet. A new chapter will be released each week. I'll be publishing the first 3 chapters on Jan 19. There's lots of content to follow. Original characters plus a fun story. It's going to be very different.

There'll be a dedicated FB group for the project plus Twitter and Instagram. I'll open everything up once things get going.

I'd like to thank this community on Blogger for following me for as long as you have. It'll be 10 years this spring since I started posting. It was the first place I went to when I began sharing my art online. You guys have been great and I hope you'll enjoy the show on Webtoon.  

Keep Creating no matter what !!