Tarzan

©Disney
This rough bg layout I did I believe is for the scene where Tarzan is finally recognized by the apes as their leader. There's a slight drizzle of rain that's why a couple of puddles of water were added. It was a 16 fld set-up using graphite on smooth animation paper. Layout was done in 1998.

El Pacifico - "Newfound Friend?"

Check out my latest on El Pacifico. These three panels are highlighted because of the amount of details I put in them. Dinga-man and his crew will have a surprise "guest" that will be an interesting addition to the crew. Again, the page is completely done in Photoshop. Enjoy...

Denali

©Disney
I continued sorting out my "archive" (actually boxes) this morning and finally found my Tarzan and Brother Bear artworks. Here is a couple of workbook panels from Brother Bear. This is the scene where Denali comes out of hiding and and about to attack the bear he's been hunting (which of course he didn't know that's his own brother Kenai). Designing birch trees in this movie was so much fun like this one having three trunks stemming out of one. For those of you studying composition, the idea is as soon as Denali steps out, camera follows him and makes a slight pull back. The tip of the spear and his foot start to come out of the shadow. I wanted Denali almost on the center of the screen (for a purpose) then framed him with two birch trees. Then I offset that frame towards the left of the main composition in order to create a more natural "feel" overall. I'll definitely include this sequence for my workbook series in a few weeks.

Red Rock Canyon

Here are some photographs I took on a visit to Red Rock Canyon in Nevada last Wednesday with my family. Amazing rock formations and the pallette against sunset. Check out the family at the lower right corner on the the third photo for scale.

Runaway Brain

©Disney.
This is a Disney short that was released in 1995 with the movie "A Kid in King Arthur's Court". The movie was forgettable but the short wasn't. It was the first Disney short with Mickey and Minnie in it on the big screen for many, many years. But what makes it unique is a "dark" Mickey doing a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character. Animation is very well executed and personally, I love watching well animated Mickey in 2D (because that's what it was originally designed for!). The short I believe was mainly done in Disney Paris FA studio with the help of the Florida crew. For those of you out there who haven't seen it for a long time ( like me ) or haven't seen it at all, here it is...

New Sketchclub Post

Here's my latest post on our Sketchclub blog. She reminded me of an older Olive Oyl and it helped me retain the image till I was able to sit down on the drawing board this morning. Marcelo and I did a session last Friday with a special guest from the Sketchclub East franchise, Mark McDonnell. Too see their take on this lady, click the link or go to www.sketchclub.blogspot.com.

Workbook Series #2: Mulan Prologue (1st Version)

©Disney
Welcome again to my workbook series. Here is the first version workbook that I did for the Mulan prologue that never made it into the big screen. One of the elements I like about this version is the puppetry at the beginning. I remember seeing the tests made for this in CG and they looked amazingly beautiful. I was a bit disappointed when I was informed that the whole sequence has to be revised. The puppetry is an effective intro to the richness of the Chinese culture. But Hans did a brilliant move in adding an equally powerful intro on the second version (Theatrical version. See Workbook Series#1) -- the Chinese brush painting. Dean DuBlois, who was my director for Lilo & Stitch, was the story artist for both versions. Enjoy.

El Pacifico - "The Last Stand!"

Check out my latest posting on El Pacifico. His Holiness' ship is down to two guards and are about to make their last stand though overwhelmingly outnumbered. Then comes Dinga Man doing an Errol Flyn and finishes the job. Our pirates hoist the "Dinga" version of the Jolly Roger. I am preparing the stage now for our gang to sail. The page was completely done digitally in Photoshop.

Grand Canyon Trip

My family with some friends took a trip at the southern rim of the Grand canyon in Arizona late last week and here's a couple of photos I took from that "grand" experience. Because of the epic size and scale of the place (fig. 1) the background always looks like a flat painted billboard on a lot of my photos (fig. 2 & 3). The whole place was such an awesome sight to see.

Praying Lilo

©Disney
Seldom we see prayer being shown especially in animation. Well here's a favorite shot. It was a very quick drawing for a camera test. There's a big pull back starting very tight on Lilo then revealing the open door of the room with Nani listening just right outside. Lilo was praying for an angel then the next shot we cut to Stitch coming out of the big crater. The size of the sketch for the test fits on an 8.5x11 paper but the original layout ended up a 16 fld set up. Note the date at the bottom. That's already seven years ago... can still remember that day vidly.

Lilo's Bed Design

©Disney
Being assigned to do the bed design for Lilo & Stitch, rather than going on a field trip to Hawaii, I ended up driving myself to a Rooms To Go Kids along Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. I went straight to the bedroom showroom and started sketching. The idea of a messy bed full of stuff came from our Production Designer Paul Felix. The bed reflects Lilo's personality of being playful and different. Here are my five bed design sketches Bed 2 was the one approved.

Workbook Series #1: Mulan Prologue

©Disney
Though it's the prologue for the movie, Mulans first sequence where the Huns attacked the Great Wall was actually one of the last sequences to be done in workbook. There were two versions and I had the privilege on doing both. It was the second one that ended up on the big screen. Our production designer Hans Bacher wasn't so happy on this decision and in a way I agree with him. But the product turned out really well on the screen and probably one of my favorite start in an animated movie. Here is the version that made it to theatrical release and the first installment in my blog's new workbook series.