Friday, November 23, 2012

Tappers Caricatures

When Ralph goes to Tappers bar and runs into the Hero's Duty soldier for the first time,  John Musker and I did those caricatures of game celebrities on the wall.  

The idea was to have it replicate the feel of a famous New York restaurant called Sardi's, where the walls are lined with caricatures of celebrities.

Here are a few of the ones I did.
 Centurion- Altered Beast
 Chun Li- Street Fighter
 Dhalsim - Street Fighter
 E-Honda - Street Fighter
 Frogger
 Guile- Street Fighter
 Ken- Street Fighter
 Neff- Altered Beast
 Peter Pepper - Burger Time
 Ryu - Street Fighter
 Sagat- Street Fighter
 Shinobi
 Sorceress- I'm not sure which game
 Space Invader
Zangief- Street Fighter
 Fix-It Felix

Our director, Rich Moore.
Big thanks to Rich for giving me the chance to do these!
All images are property/copyright Disney

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Children's Hospital

Brent Homman, Melissa Fanfassian, Chad Sellers, Michael Woodside, Ruben Aquino
Sarah Airriess, Myself.

Last Friday, a few of us had the amazing opportunity to spend some time with the kids at Children's Hospital in LA.  We got to screen Wreck it Ralph, pass out some Ralph/Disney goodies, and draw Disney characters!

It was really touching getting to watch the film with these kids, and being able to give them a little reprieve from their daily struggles.  It really cuts to the core of why I do what I do and I'll be forever grateful for the experience.  Thank you kids for letting us be a part of your lives, and thanks to the Children's Hospital for having us!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Opening weekend

I promise this will be the last Ralph-related post!  But the film is finally out this weekend,we are all really proud of Ralph and I hope it shows in the work.  I'm really excited to hear what you think!

This was such a unique experience for me.  Not only was a I lucky (but unworthy) enough to be a part of this world-class animation crew doing 3D and 8-bit animation, but on  the heels of the Caricature Show (see below), I was tapped by Art Director Mike Gabriel to create some art for the movie!  I'm very grateful , and that experience eventually helped me to move into Visual Development training program here at Disney! 
So I guess there are lessons I am learning here ; Take chances especially when they scare you.  Even when you feel like you aren't as good as the next guy, don't be afraid to put your work out there.  And keep forcefully pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
 All of the above will help us to fall flat on our faces.  But we secretly know that's how we get better;)

So if you've taken a break from your all-day-all-night animation session to visit this blog, this post is for you!  I feel you and I know you're workin hard and this medium is a challenging as it is gratifying.  But keep going and I promise you your big dreams are going to start to happen!

And when you do get there...dude it's awesome.  There's nothing like banding together with a team of talented artists and working together to put something special up on screen!
Such an honor to be up there with my heroes!
My dream comin' true. Being part of the amazing animation crew at Disney.  Our future's lookin pretty bright!

PS - Let me know if you spot this little piece somewhere in the film=)

 Congratulations to Rich Moore and the whole crew!  Thanks for the unforgettable experience!