Lizard Troop 2

©Armand Serrano.
The original drawing (fig.4) was done a while back in graphite and marker on animation paper. When I opened the file recently I didn't like the character anymore especially it's weak pose (it reminds me of Dinotopia). So I modified the character in Photoshop as well as the creature (fig. 3) and made them a little more dynamic. Shadows are added for emphasis. Then I tried out different color schemes and this is the one I'm kinda happy with (fig. 2). At this point, I thought I'm almost done until I said to myself, well, why not. So I went ahead and added the whole environment and had so much fun painting it. It's a four and a half hour sitting in Photoshop.

SURF'S UP

Sony released the very first teaser poster for Surf's Up at the Con. The film is due summer 2007 so hang in there guys, one more year to go. This image I believe was painted by Paul Lasaine, our production designer. Marcelo Vignali designed the ice board, I designed the two wooden boards, and Sylvain DeBoissy did the characters. For Surf's Up website, click here. But for now, don't forget to watch Open Season, Sony Pictures Animation's very first animated feature coming this fall.

The Counsel

Here's another product of my downtime. Originally, I designed this subject to be painted with oil on canvas (26"x30") for an exhibit in Maitland, Florida back in 2003. I sketched it out in graphite then added the color scheme in Photoshop (fig. 2). But due to schedule problems, I didn't finish the painting (fig. 3) and used The Passover instead. It stayed in my garage all those years. But finally, thanks to this downtime...it's finished! It's a two three-hour sessions in Photoshop. Roman empire is one subject I'm always fascinated with. The subject is set during a first century campaign. A tribune gives a legionary commander (seated) counsel on their next move as the centurion (behind the commander with the crest), his optio (behind the centurion) and an aquilifer (with the banner) look on. Unconsciously, I draw the main character bigger and yet it works. Well, he's the "boss".

Lizard Troop

A few years ago at Disney, I was developing a story concept simply titled Lizard Troop. Due to some exciting announcements like shutting down the studio made me just abandon the project. But I did a few artworks for it that I saved. I pulled this one out (fig. 2). Since I'm on my down time this week, I decided to have fun and paint it (fig. 1). By the way, I just finished 'Surf's Up' (slated for 2007) last week and on to the next project. Work load will not kick in probably until the next few weeks. Anyway here's the finished product. It's a four hour sitting in Photoshop.

Mulan and Shang

These are a couple of character layout poses for Mulan during the avalanche sequence. I just noticed on the second panel that Mulan's size relationship with Shang and Khan is off. I drew her a bit bigger. But what the heck, it worked.

New Adventures Of Jonny Quest

While working for Hanna Barbera at Fil-Cartoons Studios in Manila 16 years ago (oh my!), I had the privilege of being part of a lot of Saturday morning cartoons that I grew up with. The New Adventures Of Jonny Quest is one of my favorite. As you may know, they go to different exotic places on every episode of Jonny Quest. That show as well as a lot of TV cartoons have been a fantastic training ground for me as a layout artist. The turnover of each episode was so quick (every month or two the most). So we have to crank up the speed in thinking, research and drawing without losing the quality as much as possible. This bg layout was one of the very few ones that I kept from that show. I believe the original layout was done in 1992. Then I fixed the rendering on it around 1995-1996 to be added on my portfolio while applying for feature animation studios. There's nothing really much going on in this layout. But I like how I played with the light and how it turned out. An epic scale was created on a very simple shot. Again, if my memory serves me well, this is supposed to be some kind of a landing pad for a secret underground facility for that episode. This was done with black prismacolor on soft medium weight vellum.

Beach From Tarzan

The first artwork is an underlay level I did for a scene from Tarzan. The foliage was purposely detailed since it's a pan set-up and needs to see details in the background as camera pans. I don't remember what exactly this scene is for but I'm sure it's towards the end of the movie. Too bad, I can't find the bg for this so I imported the file to Photoshop and made it into a quick beach painting.

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...