God rest Olive Riley

Olive Riley, the world's oldest blogger has passed away at the grand old age of 108.
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I hope my mind is as crisp and clear as hers is at that age.

New brush marker

I'm such the art tool geek. I strolled through the CCS Bookstore and noticed that they have a NEW Copic brush marker- the Multiliner SP. I haven't had a chance to get all of the other bells and whistles that come with it just yet, but I guess these have replaceable nibs, ink cartridges and a cool aluminum skin. I got home and couldn't help but ink an old pencil sketch I did of the Green Goblin. I do so love all the new technology but there's still something magical about a hand inked drawing. I'm pretty sure I'm hooked to this new marker.

Just for laughs

It's been nearly a month since school got out. I've been working like a madman since on all sorts of projects. From time to time, I will take a few moments to crank out a fun piece for myself. So here, I just decided to scratch out my thoughts on the good ol' days of having a car without air conditioning.

The comedic genius of Harvey Korman

Yesterday Harvey Korman passed away.

I grew up watching him on the Carol Burnett Show and laughing my butt off to him. Whether he played opposite Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, the weekly guest star or his comedic foil, Tim Conway- he was always stellar. He also voiced The Great Gazoo in The Flintstones cartoon show as well as a ton of other characters. One of his most iconic was probably his role of the dastardly villain in 1974 movie, Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" as Hedley Lamarr.

My mom always loved his over the top characters that he'd portray and while she never grasped the English language that well, she understood his comedy. Today I'll miss them both.

One picture says it all

After I graduated CCS many moons ago, I had these grandiose visions of somehow changing the world with my art. Could I be the next Picasso, be a part of the new Nouveau, be instrumental as Bauhaus, or maybe be written up in critical art books? I guess I still have some of those dreams but I've since realized that it's through hard work, dedication to my craft and it starts with one person. If I can somehow change one person's perception of the world for the better- I've achieved that change. Knowing Ingrid is happy and thankful is a wonderful place to start.

(Many thanks to Carol Mazurek for the great pics)

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UPDATE!
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Ever since I took on this project, there has been more requests to donate art for Ingrid to enjoy. Above is one I just got today from Chelsea Kirchoff. It seems as though I've been appointed art conduit for Ingrid alluva sudden!

Artwork for Ingrid

A few weeks back, colleague, friend and esteemed artist Gilda Snowden contacted me about a project she was asked to participate in. A friend of hers, Carol Mazurek had contacted Gilda about gathering artwork to help brighten a little six year old girl’s room as she was about to go through chemotherapy for the 14th time to combat a form of lung cancer.

Seeing as how it’s the final few weeks of school and everyone was scrambling around, Gilda immediately thought of me “and the folks in your department because you are used to moving fast!”

I made the announcement to the Senior Studio to come up with pieces that would help liven this little girl’s day. They were under no obligation; there were to be no grades or bonuses handed out for this. Their only reward was good karma and my sincere appreciation. Steve Kade was also enlisted to submit his whimsical pieces as well and did so with an original watercolor and print. I also made the call out to California and contacted the likes of Jay Shuster, Jeremy Melton and Angie Lai. They too contributed amazing personal and touching pieces to help liven this girl’s space.

Last Friday, Carol came by to pick up the artwork and drove me to visit little Ingrid (she’s got a name now!) at the hospital. I was introduced to her family and Ingrid. I presented the artwork that I had gathered from Gilda, my class (as well as pieces gathered from the Animation Department by Christine Osinski) and the alumni. I mentioned the artists by name and talked a little bit about them as I held the artwork to Ingrid to see from her hospital bed. I’d like to think her family was overwhelmed by the amount of art and caring that our little community could do in such a short time frame.

Huge thanks also go out to Trish Dewald for obtaining a pair of CCS Student Exhibition Opening tickets for Ingrid’s parents to attend in a few weeks. Her parents deserve at least this much.

I visited Ingrid Sunday to see how she was doing and draw for her. It was to be her last night in the hospital and I wanted to make my acquaintance again. Her family had pinned all of our artwork to her wall. I was not only floored by the enormity of art but by Ingrid’s insistence to draw with me. I ended up leaving my marker pad and pen for her to enjoy.

Ingrid has made an impression with Gilda, my wife, myself and anyone that has met her in one way or another. She is a bright beautiful person that has the world ahead of her. Her family is caring, compassionate and is thankful and yet I feel as though I’m the one that should be thankful for being shown my students’ caring and Ingrid’s resiliency.

Last day of Senior Studio

After a long hard semester of teaching Senior Studio, the last class has come and gone. We had some amazing pieces coming out of our seniors. They worked amazingly hard and many of them are really ready for the work force. I couldn't be more proud to have been a part of their journey. Next week are Reviews and then the week after, the Spring Show goes up. How quickly this semester has flown by. Utterly amazing.

Working for WalMart

It had been a fair amount of drawings under the gun but I managed to pull it off. Not only did I end up drawing all of the frames for a handful of WalMart TV spots but I also had to design out the presentation. I had the opportunity to work with an old friend, Barry Meier and LeVar Burton (yes, THAT LeVar Burton!) of Red Orange USA. LeVar was great to work with because he could communicate really effectively the shots he wanted and Barry managed to keep all of this in order too. I ran into Red Orange's executive producer, Ed Krajewski earlier tonight and he said the shoot went well. Way cool! It always does my heart proud knowing that my boards got them through a shoot and the film's in the can.

Something I'm not gonna see for awhile

It's just that time of the year. School's working all of us hard. Work is piling on, I'm going through Sharpies, layout paper, and if I see one of these this week, it's gonna be a lark at best.

That funky ellipse smell

Why is it after all of these years my ellipse guides still smell horrible? I've had my set since my sophomore year in college and they still smell of death warmed over! You'd think after all of these years the smell would dissipate, no?

15 minute robot

Just for kicks I decided to blow off a wee bit of steam and have some fun drawing a robot within a time frame. So in fifteen minutes I cranked out this offbeat robot dude for laughs. It keeps me loose as I continue cranking on this real stuff here. Back to work now.

Freaking Out!

With exactly 27 more days until Graduation for most of my students, they're really under the gun now for a strong push to get their stuff up to snuff. Some are obviously more ready and confident than others but graduate they must.

Not only is it a strain on them but it's all we instructors can do keep them focused as we also have deadlines galore to deal with. We're freaking out just as much! As of now I'm under the gun to produce a smattering of WalMart commercials, a handful of Dodge web frames, a running strip for Daimler, a logo for an insurance firm, movie bids, and keep track of all of the other proposals for projects I've got out there in the real world.

On top of the in-class tension, some of us also have committees to serve on and subtle little things that we need to follow up on in order to make classes go smoothly. It's a tense time indeed but somehow we all will manage. Just keep the Mountain Dew on tap and a smile on my face through it all.

Rocketo... my new secret pleasure

Great graphic novel/ comic book done in a stellar style by Frank Espinosa. I found this little gem on my way back from the Roseann Hebeler Brown show in Ann Arbor over the weekend. Not that I've had much time to read this book or really soak up some of the great imagery in it, but Rocketo- Journey to the Hidden Sea is killer. The drawings are expressive, fluid and has a flair I haven't seen in a long while. The slap dash coloring of the book is painterly and yet remarkably intuitive. I'm lugging this little gem to class and recommending it to all.

Roseann Hebeler Brown

Last Sunday I attended the Ann Arbor Art Center to attend an opening featuring eleven children displaying their artwork. Some of the work was amazing; the creativity that some of these kids displayed was impressive. On the walls of the second floor were pieces emulated from classical artists as well as some really interesting design theory projects. All were bright, colorful and presented in a very professional manner. Many of the parents were there taking pictures of their children next to their mini-masterpieces on the many walls and chatted with the instructors.

I attended because these kids were the beneficiaries of the Roseann Hebeler Brown Fund. Roseann was also my graphic design instructor at CCS. Not only was she a great instructor to me, but she was an inspiration. She taught us the practicality of design and always had a smile on her face. She was by far one of the most fun filled instructors during my tenure at CCS. At times I can still hear her laughter when things got tough for us during the semester.

Roseann passed many years ago. She fought a valiant fight against cancer to stay with us but in the end God called her back home. This fund established in 2002 in her name gave these kids a chance to explore their artistic talent and passion. Seeing these kids and the work that they had up on the walls made me think that Roseann would've been proud of me for what I've accomplished (thanks to her tutelage) and for attending this opening.

Illustration Friday Pick of the Week

I couldn't be more proud. My darling wacky wife made "Pick of the Week" on Illustration Friday's site. Her... the trained Fine Art Painter too! And here I've been an illustrator for how many years? Is there any justice in the world?! Either way I couldn't be more tickled pink for her when she found out a few days ago. It's awfully nice to see her get some well deserved acclaim.

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