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 !!

First Drawings of the Creation of Spyro - January 14 1997

This month marks the 25th anniversary of when I first started working on the character that would become Spyro the Dragon for the original PlayStation video game console. Almost to the day. I was at Insomniac Games on the Universal Studios lot. It was January 14 1997.

By coincidence 2 days ago on January 14 2022 I dug up all of the original Spyro art which I own. There's 103 pages that I created for what was called "Project Pete" at the time.  This is the first publication of the very first page.

I created 16 pages of character designs on the first day of work. By the end of the second day Jan 15 1997 the count was 31 and I was tuning in to the character.

By day 3 Jan 16 1997 there were 38 pages and I had pretty much nailed the look of the little dragon that would become Spyro. On Jan 23 he was refined further and we had the final design.

Original Project On The Way

This coming Wednesday Jan 19 2022 I'll begin publishing my first original project. It'll be featured on Webtoon Canvas. 

Crash and Spyro - Sketches and Commissions

Happy New Year Blogger friends! Hoping 2022 will be a terrific time for you! 

 

Though I haven't posted much recently I've had a few moments to keep my chops up with Crash and Spyro. This past year has been one of significant change for me and I didn't have an opportunity to create as much as I would like. But as the year progressed things opened up and I was able to get back to it.

Here's a little gallery of what I've been up to. Mostly sketching with friends and sometimes on my own. Also a few commissions I accepted. Some of these drawings were done straight ahead with ball point pen and some with blue pencil and ball point pen. It was great fun and I really enjoyed myself. I'm very happy that the Crash and Spyro characters and franchises have continued to grow over the years. I like drawing them. I intend on making 2022 a banner year for personal art and projects. 

 

Thanks for checking in!