Man vs. Art

Man vs. Art Demo #4 How to draw The Incredible Hulk.

Raul — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:37:52 +0000

Minions! Last time I showed you guys how I draw a pretty pin up girl. This time I’m going the opposite direction and showing you how to draw a big ugly Incredible Hulk! Most of the principles are the same, just the proportions of the anatomy are a wee bit different. Well, more than a wee bit. More like a tad!

Now I’m not saying this is the right way, or the only way to sketch the Hulk. This is just my way. The Man vs. Art way. I am using a Wacom Graphire 3 Tablet and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

Again just like the last Demo, this is by no means a finished piece. Just a quick sketch with only the pencil tool and eraser tool. No fancy tools or filters or whatever. Just plain good old fashioned drawing and my thought process behind it. Enjoy!

: Quick Wacom tablet Sketch of Hulk.

1938 WALT DISNEY STUDIOS EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK!

I came a cross this old 18 PAGE Disney Studios Employee Handbook from 1938! It’s a brief outline of the Studio’s principal departments and an explanation to artists of its employment policies! The drawings are all production drawings!

CLICK THE PIC FOR A PDF OF THE BOOKLET!

Get a load of the beautiful pencil sketches! Look at the appeal and solid draftsmanship! The characters look alive and fun to draw don’t they!

I love this Mickey model! Right before they changed the proportions and eyes to look more “human”. To me this was the pinnacle of Mickey’s awesomeness!

Awesome with Awesome sauce!

This Goofy blows me away! Everything in each drawing says dork! Look at how the hat follows the line of action!

The ultimate Goofy!

This is some very nice cartooning kids! Inside the PDF of the booklet you’ll find mostly Snow White stuff and few pieces from their shorts and Silly Symphonies! This is a great little collection of animation drawings from the Golden Age of Disney Animation! I suggest you guys practice drawing these pics, and learn from them!

The last page is a flowchart that shows the pecking order at the studio and just how important Walt was to everyday operations! This is unreal!

If you’re hungry for more cartoon knowledge…..

Check out the right hand column under the blue Che’s Recommended Books button for the official Man vs. Art must have book list! If you don’t have these books, you NEED to get them.

Ciao!

Raul

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Man vs. Art Episode 26! Art and Animation School Confidential.

Raul — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:25:02 +0000

Rowland Animation Circa 1994

One of the most important lessons I ever learned in life was back in my animation school days at Rowland Animation in Rowland Heights California. The teacher Dave Master ran it more like a production than a class.

Dave Master by Chuck Jones

He has always been well connected with all the major studios, which got us a lot of nice perks!. We had people like Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Chuck Jones and Tom Sito come by and lecture us.

Tom Sito came by and took us to school. L to R Raul Aguirre Jr, unknown,Tom Sito, Joseph Caro

Hanging with two legends….

Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and a petite Raul Aguirre Jr. at the Rowland Animation Open House 1994

All of the equipment was donated by Dave’s connections at the studios. The best part was that the class was inexpensive and fun as hell. IT was great! The only catch was that you needed to work your ass off. Laziness was not tolerated, either you produced or you were gone.

Every year we would dust off everything and decorate the class/studio for an open house. Parents and families and more importantly Animation industry professionals and recruiters would come by and check out our spread. The 1994 Rowland Animation Open House was most memorable and that’s where I learned my lesson on what working in a collaborative studio environment was all about.

The Open House and Project from Hell.

That year the theme of the open house was Villains of Animation. So the Entire place was decorated with every single villain from cartoon history you could think of! Every student was assigned a section of the huge Rowland Studio to decorate following the design of the brilliant John Ramirez. I ended up getting a crappy assignment shoved in a corner on top of a massive obstacle. Get this, I had to build a copy of Captain Hook’s pirate ship from Peter Pan wrecked on some rocks. I had to cover up a big ugly wooden cabinet to boot only using cardboard, paper mache and paint!!

Everyone teased me that I would never finish, and that it would be impossible. Or worse, that whatever I did would turn out like crap. I sucked it up like a man and got to work with only a fat little freshman kid I nicknamed “Spanky” to help me.

Lemonade from Lemons

Within a week I had a skeleton up and it was coming along nicely, and then something cool happened. Luis Escobar’s cousin Hugo Soriano and George Benavidez jumped from the projects they were working on to help me! I guess they sensed something cool was going on in my corner! George helped me sculpt the rocks and cannon out of paper mache and Hugo helped me with the ornate skull and bones decor on the ship’s back! We sanded and sculpted foam to form the shapes and Hugo busted out a paint sprayer and went to town! Meanwhile I had Spanky going on covert missions to jack any “supplies” we needed. Tape, brushes, paint, whatever. He may have been chubby, but Spanky was stealth!

I set up lights in the cabin, and using a child’s toy I rigged a light behind the sail to spin around. It looked like Tinkerbell flying around! I even cut out a cardboard silhouette of Peter Pan and placed a spotlight behind it so it would cast his shadow on the sail! It looked AWESOME! Plus I had finished two weeks ahead of everyone! So I was like “Great! now I can kick back and work on portfolio! So long Suckers!”

Captain Hook's ship by Raul Aguirre Jr, Hugo Soriano, George Benavidez, and Spanky.

L to R Crocodile, George Benavidez, Raul Aguirre Jr, Hugo Soriano. Not pictured "Spanky"

Dave Master said, “Not so fast Raul you’re not going anywhere!” He then called a mandatory emergency meeting. Dave ordered the tearing down of a majority of the other projects because they were crap compared to my ship. He announced that my ship had raised the bar of the entire open house and was now the new standard by which everyone else’s project had to measure up to.

For the next two weeks I was assigned to take the doomed Fern Gully The Last Rain forest room and save it, plus help out others along the way! I gathered my team and believe it or not got the job done! Turns out I’m a pretty good leader and problem solver!

This open house opened up the opportunity for many Rowland students to hook up gigs in the Animation Biz! 10 of us went to Disney, (yours truly included) others went to Film Roman, Warner Bros and just about every studio out there! You can’t walk into a professional animation studio without finding at least one Rowland Alumni! A true testament to the power of the program!

I gotta say, that group of people at Rowland was the hardest working most dedicated group of artists I ever had the pleasure of working with! Bless them all! Everyone involved turned out the most amazingly fantastic exhibit ever! Rowland Animation Forever!

Capering with my creation.

And the Moral of the Story is….

Dave Master had prepared me (as well as everyone else!) for a career working in animation studios! He taught me leadership, humility, and the dire importance of teamwork. But most importantly Dave had taught me to be a Pro! Not every job would be enjoyable or cool. Sometimes I would have to work on stuff that was lame, or boring, and I had to shut up and get to work!

Thank you Dave and all the Rowland Animation Knuckleheads too!

Sherm Cohen from cartoonsnap.com sent me an article from cartoonist Hugh Mcleod’s brilliant blog gapingvoid.com that sums up what we artists all do for each other. We inspire each other!

click here and get it directly from Hugh. And for crying out loud sign up for the gapingvoid.com mailing list!

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Man Vs. Art Pin-up Girl Drawing Demo! Vampirella

Raul — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:22:38 +0000

Pin-up Girl Sketching DEMO!

Hola Minions! Welcome to a hopefully new feature of Man vs. Art. I am resurrecting the drawing demonstrations and hope to post one every other week in between podcasts! IF you guys like this sort of stuff, I’ll do more. If you would like to suggest something you want me to draw send me an email to manvsart@manvsart.com!

First up is a pin up girl demo featuring Vampirella. Now I’m not saying this is the right way, or the only way to sketch a pretty girl. This is just my way. The Man vs. Art way. I am using a Wacom Graphire 3 Tablet and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

This is by no means a finished piece. Just a quick sketch with only the pencil tool and eraser tool. No fancy tools or filters or whatever. Just plain good old fashioned drawing and my thought process behind it. Enjoy!

quick wacom tablet sketch of a pin up girl

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Man vs Art Episode 25! Candid Interview with Disney Filmation Animation Artist Dana Reemes Part 02.

Raul — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:25:30 +0000

At long last! Closure to the Stupefying Dana Reemes interview!

Too much Dana is never enough!

I swear he looks like a Bond Villain.

"Excellent!"

Performing as a Gothic Mentalist at a very private affair. Winter Solstice, 2000.

Some funny stuff from the Dana Reemes Files!

Don’t you guys hate it when this happens?!

For the benefit of the laymen, here is what a clean up artist brings to the table in animation.

An awesome parody of the classic Ripley’s cartoons by madman Dana!

Lureline Weatherly:

a self-portrait.

She is Dana’s first wife and left quite an impression on him!

Ramses II’s Great Royal Wife Nofretari and Dana –Dana is the one on the right.

The Glamorous side of being an Animator.

Filmation also made live action Saturday morning kid shows. One of them was Space Academy! When it tanked, the abandoned sci fi sets were used to house artist cubicles! Studios will literally shove artist cubicles ANYWHERE!

When I was boy vs. art this stuff was THE BOMB!

File the next two under so horrible they are great!

Shazam is cool. Everyone knows that!

This takes the cake! Bigfoot raises an orphan and together they fight CRIME?!!

Will the REAL Ghostbusters please stand up?

Controversy!

While working at Filmation Dana had a ringside seat to the cartoon drama between “The Original Ghostbusters” and “The Real Ghostbusters.”

In 1984 Columbia Pictures released the blockbuster film Ghostbusters. As they raked in millions Columbia was clueless to their huge blunder. Apparently they did not realize the name “Ghost Busters” was taken! Believe it or not Filmation had already produced a live-action comedy series with that same name in 1975 starring Forest Tucker and Larry Storch.

In 1985 Filmation sued Columbia. As part of the out-of-court settlement, any cartoon based on the Columbia Pictures property could not be called “Ghostbusters.” That title was reserved for Filmation! Columbia had to name their cartoon show “The Real Ghostbusters” to directly distinguish it from the Filmation show.

Filmation then proceeded to call their version “The Original Ghostbusters.”

Columbia’s “The Real Ghostbusters was produced by DIC.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I worked as a clean up Inbetweener on the Phoebus Unit on the 1996 Disney production The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Phoebus was the handsome soldier who falls in love with the Gypsy Esmerelda. He was interesting to work on thanks to some great rough animation by Russ Edmonds and Dave Brewster as well as the charming voice performance by Kevin Kline.

But the helmet and sword gave my boss the suave Brian Clift a hard time. Anyway, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get the props right. The sword and helmet always morphed and wiggled. The head of the clean up department Vera Lanpher, wisely put Dana on the case! It turns out Dana has a real knack for metal props and his sense of perspective is razor sharp! Every frame of film that shows Phoebus’s helmet and or sword was done by Dana.

Helmet by Dana Reemes.

Something from the “Q” branch!

Dana owns a custom hand made animation lightbox setup made by the same guy who made the black acrylic animation discs at Disney. It is beyond awesome! It collapses into a briefcase and comes with top and bottom pegs! For $300.00 Dana got himself the coolest portable animation table set up I have ever seen. Hand made in Korea!

Coolest animation lightbox ever!

Dana Reemes: The Filmmaker

NECROMANCE, a sequence from an unfinished feature film by Dana Reemes, is provided here as a public service by ManvsArt.com. The names of the cast aand crew have been changed to protect the identify of some of the most prestigious individuals in the worlds of music, fashion, entertainment and the visual arts. This film has been recognized for its artistic merit by countless audiences and critics over the years. NECROMANCE is, to put it bluntly, a deathless classic of the cinema.

Ahem!…..

Corrections!

I goofed in the last post a few times when it came to selecting images Dana admires. So he wrote to me and pointed my mistakes out and offered his solutions. Here I cut and pasted Dana’s emails. Isn’t he precious?!

Hey Raul, buddy,

It’s Dana “Not Tall” Reemes, here. Know you’re a busy guy, but thought I’d offer another suggestion for Man vs. Art. I think that Swafford’s great caricature would benefit from some judicious cropping; there’s too much negative space around the image. Use the crop tool and pretend you are an art framer. That’s all for now… Back to my writing.

Dear Raul,

Hope all is well. Don’t mean to be a pain in the ass, but thought I’d write. The TUROK material that you have up is not what I found particularly inspirational. I sent you a couple of really magnificent early painted covers by Morris “Moe” Gollub, who incidentally had been an assistant at Disney and was later a very distinguished layout guy and president of the MPSC 839 animator’s union when I joined up. Of course, I didn’t know any of this when I last saw you; Sito came by for an enjoyable visit on Friday and gave me an inscribed, author’s presentation copy of his illuminating book DRAWING THE LINE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ANIMATION UNIONS FROM BOSKO TO BART SIMPSON. (You would like this book, as its primary focus is “man vs. art”; artists trying to make a living doing what they like to do best, while having to deal with bullshit all the time from greedy or incompetent employers.) Sito, for his part, had an error in the book, describing the cover paintings that Mo Gollub did for Western Publishing titles like TARZAN and TUROK, SON OF STONE as being for paperback books rather than comic books. Gollub was just a guy like us (only talented) who knocked out those beautiful covers in the late ’50s when he was about your age. It was just something he did on the side as he was basically an animator. As for the interior page art, the examples you have are from the garishly colored Darkhorse reprints of one of the early issues illustrated by Rex Maxon, an old-timer that had done the TARZAN full-color Sunday newspaper strip (back when such strips were a big deal) for years starting in 1930, until it was later taken over by Burne Hogarth and the great Russ Manning (who later did MAGNUS,ROBOT FIGHTER for Western Publishing). Maxon’s Turok work looked old-fashioned at the time and while professional, always appeared to be done in great haste, mostly with brush (it’s faster). The finest draftsman ever to work on TUROK, was Alberto Gioletti (correct spelling, this time) a highly trained Italian, who later went back to Rome and established a well-respected comic book publishing firm. Considering how fast he worked and how little he was paid, his work is of a very high illustrational standard; other artists still use his drawings for reference when doing all manner of things like jungle, rocks, caves, etc. His work was always well-researched and had a real look of verisimilitude. All of the living beings, humans, cave-men, dinosaurs, etc., convey a sense of anatomical conviction. Anyway, it is factually incorrect to say that I liked the “Italian artists” that did TUROK; everyone involved with TUROK over the years was American except for Gioletti. (To complicate matters slightly, Gollub’s great covers were done early on when Rex Maxon was still doing interior page art; some other decent, but second-rate guy did the covers later on when Alberto Gioletti was doing the inside pages.)

One last thing, Sito right away knew the cartoonist who did that “Out of the way, swine, a cartoonist is coming!” panel; it is New York artist Bernard “Hap” Kliban, usually known as B. Kliban, and remembered now mostly for his goofy cartoon cats. He died sometime in the ’90s. You need to give him credit for that panel which so perfectly summarizes the way we cartoonists deal with our perpetually shattered dreams and frustrated aspirations. CARTOONISTS RULE!

B. Kliban

Well, I’m getting back to work on my doctoral dissertation now… Good being back in touch with you.

Your pal,
Dana

Also….

Also, with regard to the MAGNUS material you posted, you should say that this was the work of the great Russ Manning, as some of your fan-boy minions will no doubt know this and wonder at the oversight. Check out the way Manning does Magnus’ girlfriend in the finely-pleated, partly transparent mini-dress–very sexy, yet demure. Don’t think he ever did the cover art though.

Here’s some random pages of Russ Manning MAGNUS art for you to pick through. Looked really good to me when I was a teenager!

Oh yeah, before I forget!

Also get a load of the latest Ghettomation Podcast! A fun and crazy animation round table discussion I take part in with Jim Lujan and Kevin Cross!

One last thing….

ManvsArt.com’s Subcommandante Jim Lujan has just released his first DVD Ghettomation Garden. If you like stuff that is different, innovative, and funny then this is for you.

The reviews are in!

“I gushed my chonies….in a good way!”

The Che Guevara T-Shirt.

“I couldn’t stop laughing for hours! And that was just while trying to get the shrink wrap off the DVD case!”

Raul Aguirre Jr.

Total with shipping: $13.00 USD

For less than a 12 pack of Dos Equis! ($13.49)

But just as fun and twice as intoxicating!

Thanks for dropping by!

Ciao.

ad ringside seats to this circus

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Man vs. Art Episode 24! Candid Interview with Disney & Filmation Animation Artist Dana Reemes Part 1.

Raul — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:35:01 +0000

An appetizer.

Dearest Minions!

Before we get going on today’s guest, I have a special cartoon my guest found a while ago, and gave me. This made me laugh so hard, milk came out my nose. I wasn’t even drinking milk at the time!

Probably one of Funniest Cartoons I have ever seen!

Here is a film I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast that you guys HAVE to see. The 1965 film The Agony and the Ecstasy directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. A raging era of titans, popes and princes… of conspiracy and conflict… of turmoil and transgressions… of a man among men… of magnificence!

Pope Julius is eager to leave behind works by which he will be remembered. To this end he muscles Michelangelo into painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When not on the battlefield, the Pope constantly nags the crap out of Michelangelo to speed up his painful work on the frescoes.

The main Course.

Today I am going to introduce to you a very special friend of mine from way back in my Disney days. His name is Dana Reemes and he is the cat’s pajamas!

I used to stay late at the studio every night and work on my own animation projects. You know me, I’m always trying to better myself. I figured I wasn’t going to be at Disney forever and wanted to take full advantage of my time there. Dana worked nights as well and we became friends.

Professor Dana Reemes.

This is Dana in his study. Animator, Film maker, Egyptologist, Professor, Cartoonist, Published Writer, Explorer, and good buddy!

Earliest work.

Dana’s “Artism” manifested itself at age two. Check out the choo choo!

Comic Resume.

This is Dana’s clever as hell resume he used to get his first animation job at Filmation in 1979. He just walked in and showed them this. He was hired on the spot! No portfolio or nuthin’!

Remember Atomic Sit ups in middle school?

Person 1 is conned into performing “the hardest sit-up ever” an Atomic sit up. Person 1 then lies on their back and are told to cross hands on their chest. Person 2 then holds a towel over the face of person 1 covering the eyes telling him sit up quickly with all his strength when he says to. Meanwhile person 3 has removed their pants and is squatting over person 1′s face with out him knowing. Person 2 then tells person 1 to sit up and quickly removes the towel as soon as the sit up begins. The result has person 1′s nose planted into person 3′s ass.

Here Dana has drawn a gag cartoon showing off a automatic atomic sit-up machine!

Caricature of Dana Reemes by Michael Swafford.

I knew Michael Swafford while I was working on Disney’s Hercules in 1997. Mike supervised the animation of Hermes and was truly one of the most talented animators I had ever seen! I mean look at this caricature of Dana he did! EXCELLENT!

Robert Crumb!

Dana met Robert Crumb in 1969 in the flea bag Miramonte Hotel on Mission Street where Robert was staying at the time. Dana brought his sketchbook and Robert kindly went over it with him! Not only that, Crumb gave some sage advice as well as a Crowquill Penpoint! Believe it or not Dana still has it! Behold!

Minions! I got to hold a pen Crumb gave Dana in 1969!

Robert also handed Dana a gel capsule of high grade LSD called Owsley’s White Lightning.

One of the first underground chemists to mass produce high-quality LSD in the 1960′s was Owsley Stanley. .

Owsley produced his LSD in Los Angeles and once he had a huge batch, he drove to the bay area where he supplied LSD to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters for their acid tests. Through them he also met the Grateful Dead in 1966 and began supporting them both financially and as a sound man.

Owsley’s best-known acid was “White Lightning” (300,000 doses) made in 1966-1967.

Robert Crumb’s music!

Dana Also turned me on to Robert Crumb’s band “The Cheap Suit Serenaders”

They play covers of 1920′s Tin Pan Alley Jazz! Holy cow what find! Highly recommended! A new Man vs. Art favorite!

Here is one of my favorite songs “The Fine Artist Blues” from the album Chasin’ Rainbows.

I dedicate this song to all the Man vs. Art Minions out there!

Thanks Dana for turning me onto these jams! And thanks Robert Crumb for your cartoons and now your music!!

Twinkle Toes Dana the Ballet Pirate!

Okay guys, here are two pics of Dana in a pirate costume from the Sacramento Junior Ballet’s 1962 all-ballet production of Peter Pan! This is how he looked when the teen bathing-beauty nymphets threw his butt in the deep end of the pool. You’ve seen the pictures! You CAN’T unsee them!

My doesn’t he look fierce and manly? ARRRRRRRRR!!!!

Dana’s fave Comics.

Dana really enjoyed Curt Swan’s Lois Lane for it’s elegance and theatrical posing.

Dana Also dug the Italian artists who drew Turok! Son of Stone!

This is beautiful work! Nothing fancy, just good solid drawing! I love these!

Magnus Robot Fighter was another of Dana’s choices!

This is some really good stuff! I love the way he draws the girls! The panel flow is really smooth and each composition is tight!

Filmation!

This is a clean up pencil test of Skeletor from the 1980′s Filmation Cartoon He Man and the Masters of the Universe. My friend Dana Reemes provided the clean up assistant animation on this scene. I just took the photocopies he loaned me, scanned them, and put together this animation test.

Filmation’s early stuff!

Believe it or not Filmation’s first gigs were doing the opening credit sequences for Italian Giallo which were the first sexual thrillers.

Although they did not do the titles for this particular Giallo film, I wanted to share it with you guys because it is just so insanely awesome! Blood and Black Lace Directed by the Great Mario Bava!

Check out the trailer! In bleeding COLOR!

Here are the opening Credits.

The 2010 Geeks Con!

Here is your Man vs. Art probably talking about art. Probably!

Getting some sugar from my babe, The Lovely and Vivacious Hortencia.

Melissa admires the display Hortencia put together for Man vs. Art!

Hortencia did an exceptional job of putting together my display! She matted my prints, bagged the cards and books, and dug up the vertical display things! My stuff looked rad!

Sherm Cohen and I hammed it up big time! It was great to meet him and his wife! Sherm is quite a talented fellow! The poor dude has a bone spur in his foot and hobbled in on crutches! What a trooper! The kids gushed their chonies with his Sponge Bob stuff which looked friggin’ awesome! Get Well Sherm!

John Narcomey is a bigger ham than Sherm and I put together.

The super talented Rafael Navarro is always a stud!

Ted Seko buffed and talented! Dig that sketch guys!

Geo Brawn IV and Nancy. What a nice couple! Love the jewelry Geo! The dark one Geo had the kids gushing their chonies as well, only out of fear!

Javier Hernandez and Jim Lujan, now this is what I call studs!

Geeks Con 2010 was a blast and I can’t wait until next year!

That’s enough for now!

Ciao!

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Man vs. Art Episode 23! The History of Animation According to Raul Part 2.

Raul — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:31:44 +0000

Hola Minions!

Here it is! At long last the eagerly anticipated second part of……

The History of Animation According to me.

But before I get into it I need to let you guys know right from the get go, that this episode of the Man vs. Art Podcast is heavy. I mean really heavy. It clocks in at over 90 minutes. I went balls out on this one kiddos. I started from the 1987 debut of the Simpsons shorts on FOX’s Tracey Ullman show and went all the way to the present day. I made a real effort to touch on as many key moments in cartoon history as I could, with that bombastic fiery passion you all have come to expect from me.

I gushed over the things I love like some sort of braying seal/James Lipton hybrid and I tore into the stuff I hate like a drunken Wolverine slashing into a pack of Ninjas.

In other words, I kept it Raul.

This time it was a little different than part one because this time I was actually there and experienced it first hand for myself as an animation artist. So at times I got a little worked up and perhaps a tad emotional.

FYI, this is a no B.S. zone. Rest assured that I offer the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me Walt.

In producing this episode I learned that there is no free lunch in Animation. Never has been. The first hundred years of modern animation was no picnic! Especially for the Artists.

Producing animation is tough. It takes hard work, devotion, and vision. Even animation that is “phoned in” or “hacked out” requires effort.

Animation has dealt with B.S. and adversity at every turn. But more importantly I learned that the greatest achievements in animation no matter the era, always have the most humble of beginnings.

Do you remember where you were on April 19, 1987? I do. I was watching Animation history being made.

That night was the very first appearance of The Simpsons in a 1:40 minute short interstitial on the Tracey Ullman Show. This little Ghettomation ushered in a new era for cartoons and became one of the biggest most successful animation properties in history.

Don Bluth Corner

Don Bluth Single handedly saved 2D Animation in the early eighties with awesome awesomeness!

Don Bluth’s Space Ace

Don Bluth Draws Kimberly from Space Ace

Notice he is using a yellow Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil. It’s no secret Minions! You’ve heard me say it before! The magic pencil is the one you happen to have in your hand.

Here is Don’s youtube channel with some cool animation tutorials!

Disney’s The Black Cauldron 1985

80′s cartoons intro mix!

IMHO the Defenders of the Earth intro was EPIC!

Best Animated Feature Prologue EVER!

Awesome Ghettomation Parody of Saturday morning fun!

Slip and Fail by Jim Lujan

Channel Frederator!

Subscribe Here for Best Free Content on ITunes!

Bloat your IPOD with Channel Frederator’s Cartoon Goodness.

Newest Inductee to the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness.

art and text by Mike Garvey

I hereby nominate Benjamin Franklin for the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness. He has been one of my biggest heroes for as long as I can remember. Heck, I even named my son after him. My reasons, several, but I’ll keep it to a few. I’ll start with the obvious and then move on to what really makes him great in my book.

His discovery of electricity changed the world as we know it. Steve Jobs has nothing on him. From the light bulb to the internet, electricity may be one of the most important elements in any artist’s toolkit.

Social networking: In 1727 he formed the “Leather Apron Club” (later called “Junto”). Called the Leather Apron Club because of the leather apron he and his fellow printers wore, it was a club that met in tea houses and pubs for the purpose of ‘business, friendship, and conversation’. It became so popular over it’s 30 year span that several spin-off clubs were formed.

He was America’s first cartoonist. His political cartoon “JOIN OR DIE!” (drawn in 1754 in response to the Seven Years War) would become a rally cry during the American Revolution. His cartoon was an inspiration for the people of thirteen colonies to come together and stand against, and amongst, the world’s superpowers of the time. Now that’s the power of art!

He founded the first library in 1731. For the first time ever, access to knowledge, information, poetry, etc. was now available to the general public rather than the few wealthy elite who owned private libraries. Thus enabling everyone, not just the aristocracy, to have an educated voice in the world.

Franklin was so disenchanted by elitist societies of higher learning, that in 1781 when solicited by Royal Academy of Science to submit an essay on his scientific experiments, he responded with a letter which became popularly titled: “Fart Proudly”. The letter discusses scientific means of making farts smell pleasant, and ends with: “…[compared to the practical applications of this discussion, other sciences are] scarcely worth a FART-HING.”

And so, for giving artists the power of lightning to create and unite, for making art that made the little guy feel like a big guy, and for recognizing the importance of every individual in a society, I nominate Benjamin Franklin for the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness.

John Narcomey The Man, The Myth!

Indy comic creator and friend of the show John Narcomey had a one man art show at Geeks Comics last weekend and MAn vs. Art was there to check out his gallery and books! That Batman John had on display behind is SICK! I love it!

Geo Brawn IV

was there as well! What a stud! Just in case you are wondering, no He’s not Samoan.

The lovely and vivacious Hortencia looked smokin’ (as always)

I'm a lucky guy.

She makes me look good.

Graciella Rodriguez, Melissa and Hortencia the Geeks Chicas!

John and his soon to be wife Melissa sure make a great couple don’t they?

I gotta give John props on his t-shirt. PURE NARCOMEY!

GEEKS-CON 2010

Everyone is invited!

Javier Hernandez

Tribute gag Promo by

The Che Guevara T-Shirt

click the pic to Jav's Blog!

Last but not least, I am thrilled to announce that the Man vs. Art Podcast is now a proud member of the Visual Artist Podcast Network at visualartistpodcastnetwork.com

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Man vs. Art Episode 22! The History of Animation According to Raul.

Raul — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:48:32 +0000

Hola Minions!
I certainly hope all is well.

Today’s podcast is the first of a two part series on….

The History of Animation according to me.

Why am I doing this? A good question to which I have a good answer.
I recently came to a big decision concerning my technique for producing animation. For the longest time I’ve been clinging to my traditional animation shtick, and it has served me well. But now I need to scale down the fancy stuff and streamline my whole process. This is a must if I ever expect to increase my cartoon output. I want to tell stories that are more involved and work with a bigger cast of characters.

I believe that by adopting a Ghettomation attitude I can knock out more toons without sacrificing quality.

I decided to research the history of Animation to learn how our cartoon forefathers handled technique, technological change, and social conventions. That way I could find ideas on ways to scale back on my own process and learn what not to do from their past mistakes.

When you want to make a giant leap forward sometimes it’s a good idea to look back first.

For as long as man has been creating art, he has also tried to depict motion.

Instead of the smoking gun, for animation there is The smoking pot.

The images found on five thousand year old clay pot in Iran shows a sequence of a goat jumping up to take a nibble from a plant.

Piper vs. Superfly Snuka!

Animate like an Egyptian!

Here we see the a four thousand year old Egyptian Mural that clearly attempted to capture the motion of two wrestlers going mano y mano.

Phantasmagorie by Emile Cohl.

The earliest known paper drawn cartoon is the 1908 French short.

His exalted Holiness Winsor MCcay

Cartoon Genius

Exceptionally awesome promotional poster wouldn't you agree?

Winsor MCcay is considered one of the first true animators . In the early 1900′s he took full advantage of the recently invented motion picture camera and used his love for drawing to animate films that were pure genius. MCcay’s animated films have stood the test of time and to this day are considered masterpieces. I think the word exquisite describes MCcay’s work perfectly.

Gertie the Dinosaur

MCcay stunned audiences with this wonderful animated piece that showed a character with personality, solid anatomy and weight! While other animators were using quarters and nickels to trace out heads and bodies for their cartoons, He was light years ahead of his peers producing elegant pieces that blew the pocket change brigade out of the water.

How A Mosquito Operates,

Set mind to blown.

Little Nemo.

Some really good drawing and acting in this work!

The Sinking of the Lusitania.

Brilliant depiction of the terrible maritime disaster that shocked the world.

Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willy

It all started with a mouse that was a big F.U. to Universal.

Steamboat Willy marked the beginning of a new era early on, barely in the infancy of animation. Cartoons could finally talk. Disney Studio held vast influence over the development of the animation process for decades..

The Fleischer Brothers

Best Superman Animation adaptation ever.

These guys created very unique cartoons that I am a total sucker for. With their studio in Florida they were able develop independently of all the other cartoon studios for many years!

Warner Brothers

The cartoon asylum known as Termite Terrace produced the unforgettable Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes.

I think I now know what I must do.

Speaking of awesome…..

Jim Lujan’s nominee for the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness.

Andy Kaufman

Link:

Andy did you hear about this one?

Ode to Andy.
There can only be one “first time”. You can only be a pioneer if something is undiscovered. There was only one first man on the moon. That man was Andy Kaufman and the moon was the world of undiscovered comedy. How do you take 25% awkwardness, 25% embarrassment, 25% chaos, and 25% fearlessness and turn into 100% genius? You can only do that if you are a groundbreaker willing to put your neck on the line discovering something new. Andy was that man.

Never before. Never again. Never quite the same.

He changed comedy and upped the game for comedians and actors alike. Andy took comedy to place where there was no roadmap. He built his own roads out of disorientation and pulling the rug from under our feet. The audience was stunned and could not look away. Some were repulsed and others instantly addicted. He showed people there doesn’t have to be a punchline to be funny. The punchline is the confusion created by no punchline. You either got it or were gotten by it. There was no hipster irony to his comedy. It was pure. The world didn’t know what this guy was doing….I have a feeling he was the only who really did. That’s the beauty of it. Not only did he march to his own drum, he built the drum and played it while singing “The Impossible Dream”.

But alas, the true secret of Andy is….there can only be one. Andy was and is the one. Genius. Fearless.

Awesome.

Jim Lujan

Ciao Minions!

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Man vs. Art Episode 021. The differences between Bad, Good, and Great Art. Plus! The significance of Passion in Art and why Shatner is awesome.

Raul — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:33:20 +0000

But First….A little business.

Free swag!

Citizen Sanchez Mini Comic and Official Man Vs. Art Minion Pin!

Attention all Minions! ManvsArt.com announces the first officially licensed swag! That’s right, you get one copy of Raul Aguirre Jr’s first mini comic book “Citizen Sanchez!” An eight page trip into the origin of the Citizen Sanchez Saga! You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! You’ll demand your money back even though it was free! Each book comes signed,numbered, and sealed in a mini bag and board that my wife, the Lovely and Vivacious Hortencia Aguirre put together!

As an added bonus each book comes with an official ManvsArt.com Minion Pin! Be the envy of your friends by publicly declaring you are a fearless Man vs. Art Minion and damned proud of it! All you need to do is subscribe to the Man vs. Art podcast through I-tunes, email, or any of the other options in the right hand column AND then send Che and me an email containing your mailing address to manvsart@manvsart.com.

Please write SWAG in the subject line. If you can, please throw out a review on Itunes for us. Karma folks!

You guys have really been a wonderful group of listeners and readers that I felt it was time to hook you guys up with something sweet. Supplies are limited, so act now kiddos!

What have you got to lose? Besides, it's free!

Man vs. Art gets busy!

I recently appeared on the Art&Story podcast in a round table discussion with Jerzy Drozd, Mark Rudolph and Kevin Cross. These dudes are Comic Fu masters as well as funny as hell. It was a great show! We talked about writing in the thumbnail stage for comics and storyboarding. Give it a listen you’ll find it MEATY!

Also Jim Lujan and Kevin Cross have invited me to become a co-host on the Ghettomation podcast! The podcast for DIY animators by DIY animators! Wanna hear 3 animators talk about the orgasmic heaven and infernal hell that making animation is? Check out Ghettomation kiddos! In this latest episode we talk about music and the importance it plays in animated cartoons!

You guys have to check out Jim Lujan’s latest film.

New Wave Dentist.

And now the episode 21 podcast notes!

The three types of art.

In a nutshell all art can be placed into three distinct categories.

Bad Art

will prompt zero emotional response in the viewer. Like a song you hear in an elevator that goes in one ear and out the other, a picture on a wall that stimulates you the same way as if the wall had been blank, a movie on a plane you force yourself to watch just to kill time. Usually starring Rob Schneider incidentally.

It's going to be a long flight.
Good Art

Art that produces an emotion that you have felt before; a painting of a lake that reminds you of fishing with your grandpa, a love song that takes you back to the first time you saw your babe.

Great Art

Art that produces an emotion that you have NEVER felt before. Take for example Michelangelo’s La Pieta. His depiction of the Virgin Mary cradling the body of her son is so powerful and heart wrenching. You can really feel the pain and sadness that a parent feels at the loss of a child.

La Pieta by Michelangelo. Agony in marble.

Passion Ration

As many of you know, I am very passionate about art. In fact it gets pointed out to me quite often. I guess a majority of it stems from my refusal to completely grow up. I may be a big burly manly man. To which my friend Javier Hernandez adds Bombastic. I don’t know whether to punch him or hug him for that one. Which come to think of it, that is probably what he means! But I still have a deep connection to the little punk inside of me that marvels at all things art related that are RAD, and BAD ASS. Most cartoonists I think have this similar affliction to a certain degree, I mean look at how 99.9% of us have toys and action figures on our desks.

Nothing says "Hey ladies come and get it!" like a good set of desk toys!

Man vs. Art almost becomes Man vs. Ice Tomb!

Here is a series of pics from my trip to Europe in 2005. I just barely avoided falling through the ice atop a glacier on Mt. Titlis in Switzerland. Truly a near death experience. I managed to bang up my leg and I suffered a severe nut crunch as a result. Luckily one of my fellow travelers, a kind Australian Gentleman happened to be a Surgeon. He examined me and made sure I hadn’t done any real damage to my boys.

As payment for the emergency medical exam he wanted one of my watercolors I had painted of the Greek Isle of Hydros a few days before.

The Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness welcomes it’s newest inductee…..William Shatner!

Have you studied for your Kobayashi Maru?

William Shatner is the epitome of the artist who never says die! For over four decades this guy has failed as much as he has succeeded. He has put out as many stinkers as he has brilliant gems! What’s more William Shatner has even humiliated himself a few times. But he always bounces back and we still love him!

What makes Shatner awesome is this. Despite the failures he has never given up. Ever since I can remember Shatner has been working!

bit parts on the Twilight Zone
commanding the Enterprise in the OG Star Trek series,
his brilliant musical career. Mr Tambourine man anyone? How about Lucy in the sky with diamonds?
TJ HOOKER,
Rescue 911,
the Star Trek Movies,
Tek World,
Spy Hard
Over a decade as the priceline.com shill,
Comedy Central’s Celebrity Roast
History channel specials
Critically acclaimed performances on The practice, Boston legal,
His own talk show for crying out loud!

Some folks like me, admire him, other folks hate him. You can’t argue with the fact that yes William Shatner is a joke. But you know what? I think he is laughing the hardest. All the way to the friggin’ bank.

William Shatner I welcome you to the Man Vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness!

For you are Awesome in every sense of the word. Or as my friend Luis Escobar puts it, “You are Awesome with Awesome sauce!”

Full of Shatner!

A musical tribute to William Shatner by who else? William Shatner!

Rocketman! Here William Shatner is the first person to not just sing a song nor act a song but to overact a song! If that’s at all possible!

William Shatner and Ricardo Montalban?! Holy crap! That’s like adding chili and cheese to fries!

Phew! That’ll suffice for now!

Ciao!

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Man Vs. Art Episode 20. Sherm Cohen from Cartoonsnap.com talks about the Essentials! Storyboards, Comics, and Cartoons.

Raul — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:50:13 +0000

It is my pleasure to introduce to the Man Vs Art Minions the talented and very funny Sherm Cohen.

Sherm by Sherm

Sherm is a storyboard artist with 16 years experience on many hit cartoons including The Ren & Stimpy Show, Hey Arnold, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Mighty B, Phineas and Ferb, and “Kick Buttowski, Suburban Daredevil.” In addition to his storyboard work, Sherm has written and directed episodes of Hey Arnold, SpongeBob and Phineas and Ferb, and has written songs for various cartoons including “The FUN Song” for SpongeBob. Sherm is currently working as Director and Storyboard Supervisor on Kick Buttowski, a new series for Disney TV Animation. His latest book, “Cartooning: Character Design” is published by Walter Foster Publications. He also publishes the KICK ASS cartoon blog www.cartoonsnap.com!

a fine example of Sherm's comics work! POW!

Contemporary Storyboarding

During the course of the interview Sherm gave us some insight into what can make or break a storyboard, as well as his thoughts on the digital storyboard process. Always think story first. Keep in mind how the sequence you are about to storyboard fits into the big picture.

Here you can find some samples of the digital storyboard software Sherm was talking about. It’s called Toonboom Storyboard Pro.

check it out!

The program is used in conjunction with a Cintiq by Wacom. A wonderfully expensive hi tech tablet that allows you to draw on the screen with a stylus.

Ren and Stimpy

best episode….EVER!

Below is the first episode of Ren and Stimpy that both Sherm and I ever saw. This insane cartoon blew me away and made me a John K. and Ren and Stimpy fan for life. The quality is so so, but I still suggest you check it out!

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v14085830Cq24yFjf

One of the reasons Sherm refuses to attend the San Diego Comic Con is because he ends up spending too much money at places like Bud Plant. Who incidentally has the most massive art and cartoon book catalog ever!

Check out the Ditko book!

HARVEY KURTZMAN

When asked who his greatest cartoon idol was, Sherm was all about Harvey Kurtzman, who is without a doubt one of the most influential cartoonists of the 20th century. In 1952 Kurtzman talked EC comic book publisher Bill Gaines into launching a new comic book title totally unique in concept and style from anything that was ever published — Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad! That’s right kids! He was the guy that came up with the idea that is Mad magazine. The first publication that was dedicated to ripping on pop culture! Other famous Cartoonists like Art Spiegelman , Bill Griffith and Robert Crumb credit early Mad as heavily influencing their own styles . In later years Kurtzman sometimes referred to himself as the “brother-in-law of underground comix”.

Harvey Kurtzman one of the greats!

Roy Crane

Roy Crane is one of the inventors of Adventure strips and was a big influence on Kurtzman as well as Sherm!

ROY CRANE

Look at this awesome page by Crane!

Here is a link where you can find old comic scan to check out and be inspired!

http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/

To open up and read digital comics get yourself

comic rack for PC
comicbooklover for Mac

Sherm also mentioned this great book on story you may want to check out.

Directing the story by Frances Glebas.

All Hail Bakshi!

And lastly we talked about the highly inspirational video from the 2008 Comic Con featuring Ralph Bakshi. In this video Ralph scolds us youngsters for not taking advantage of the technology available to us and for being wimps. I’ve mentioned this before, but I for one can never get sick of this. This is like red bull for animators man! Get your Bakshi ON!

Tough Times are a Chance to Reinvent the Cartoon biz.
Don’t Work for the Big Studios or Corporations, Work For Yourself.
The Digital Revolution Allows You To create professional stuff equal if not better to the studios!
We must develop New Markets for our Work
Creatively fly When Everyone is Still walking.

Because of his wisdom and overall testicular fortitude, Ralph Bakshi is hereby inducted into the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness!

Man Vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness.

Ciao!

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Man Vs. Art Episode 19 Cartoons, Agents, Comics, Pitching Demo and other such nonsense with Ghettomation.net guys Jim Lujan and Kevin Cross

Raul — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:44:07 +0000

A very special Man Vs. Art….

On today’s podcast I had the pleasure of speaking with Indy animators Jim Lujan and Kevin Cross from ghettomation.net. What is Ghettomation you ask?
By Ghetto they don’t mean bad or poorly made. Au contraire! They mean underground/indie/creator owned. Gorilla style! Ghetto compared to the big corporate animation…..Ghetto is good!

The Mighty Jim Lujan!

One of L.A’s Finest.

Jim is a genuine talent with a unique vision.

Citizen Sanchez Tribute By Jim Lujan

Jim Lujan scathingly observant master of satire.

Check out these two most recent animated shorts by Jim. Set your asses to laughed off!

First up is AlphaNerd: DEN of the BEER THIEVES! Batman ain’t got nuthin’ on AlphaNerd!

Next up is the sordid and tragic tale of the rise and fall of the greatest club DJ who ever spun a record! Of course I’m talking about FreakDaddy! You can almost smell the coconut scented fog man!

If you pay attention you will notice a very Kubrickesque feel to Jim’s films.

Kubrick favored symmetrical compositions which he mechanically repeated to both unify and dehumanize.

Kubrick used a lot of extreme closeups of faces that were darkly lit and full of emotion.

Kubrick loved wide and slow pan shots, which more often than not produced an eerie and surreal vibe.

Let’s not forget the ever present and very effective “KUBRICK STARE.”

If you want to see more of Jim’s cartoons check out his youtube channel and subscribe! You won’t be disappointed.

The Uncanny Kevin Cross

Straight outta Portland!

Kevin Cross and his Lady taking care of business.

Kevin Cross capering with his creation Monkey Mod.

Monkey Mod by Kevin Cross

Kevin Cross is a Portland Oregon based Illustrator/Comic Book Artist/Animator/ Punk Rocker! His Webcomic Monkey Mod is delightfully fun and expertly crafted. This guy can DRAW folks and he knows art comics and animation Like yours truly Kevin is into UPA and 60′s Hanna Barbera animation big time. What can I say? The guy has good taste!

One time I asked him how he liked living in Portland. Without missing a beat Kevin replied “It’s great except for one thing. The Mexican food sucks!” I can’t stand to see people suffer such deprivation! I think I’ll Fed-Ex him some King Taco.

Enjoy a taste of Kevin’s killer animation.

In the podcast I performed a pitch of one of my latest creations the Penalizer.

Below is a recent development sketch that I think really captures the Magnificent Bastard that is the Penalizer!

Damn! I should have brought the big gun!

The Man Vs. Art Agent Primer.

Why would you need one?

Well if you have a great idea for an animated TV show, Movie, or book and want to pitch it to the major studios and networks, you’ll have a tough time getting a meeting without an agent.

Disclaimer!!

If the following seems a bit harsh and discouraging don’t worry. The mere fact that you are here reading this means you are not one of the chowder heads . After all you are doing research on agents and reps right? You want to be informed and prepared to put your best foot forward right? Good! I’m ripping on those that think they have it all figured out without bothering to learn the rules of the game. If you want to succeed in this field you need to know what’s going on. A great man once said, “This isn’t ‘Nam. There are rules!”

Let us proceed, shall we?

Ahem.

We artists dream of being represented by an agent who will market our work, set up pitch meetings, score us an in-house or freelance gig, and do all that boring non-art stuff like marketing, negotiating, and selling.

The stark truth is that it’s extremely tough to find a good agent.

For artists it’s best if you’re already known enough in your field to have agents seeking you instead of you going to them. Sadly few artists get this privilege. The rest of us must submit material to many agents and agencies and choke down the pile of rejection slips before eventually hooking up with an agent willing to take a chance on us.

Here’s the deal.

In a nutshell, it comes down to who you know people. Agents are busy. They don’t have time to deal with deluded dumb asses who lack what it takes in terms of credits, talent, and ideas. Believe it or not, there are a lot of posers out there that think they have the next big hit. 99.9% of these knuckleheads are out of their minds and their creations are terrible. Agents can’t be wasting time dealing with every mouth breather who walks in off the street with a half baked idea about talking cats.

Think about it. Everyone knows that guy who thinks he’s Alan Moore the master storyteller right? But in reality this moron can’t even tell a knock knock joke. At one time or another we’ve all been cornered by Kurt Busiek Jr. and subjected to a forty seven minute barrage of incomprehensible nonsense! A story so convoluted and absurd that it makes you want to run away screaming and jump through the nearest plate glass window! These days I carry a cyanide capsule just in case.

Now imagine how many of these clueless wonders agents have to deal with. Every day!

The Circle of Trust.

One of the few ways you can get a agent to even give you the time of day is if you are recommended by someone in the agent’s circle of trust. It is equally important that you have the professional credits and polished marketable work to back you up. If you do, then an agent will be way more likely to take the time to meet with you or at least check out what you have to offer.

This circle of trust extends beyond the agent and goes all the way to the studios and networks. Studio and network executives are also busy people and they can’t be meeting with every dork that comes at them with a Naruto ripoff. You must be recommended to them from someone in their circle of trust which in most cases is an agent.

Case in point. Someone I know once told me his foolproof series pitch. He was absolutely convinced his idea was as good as greenlit. He said, “Well my show is a bout a giraffe, and as you know there’s never been a show where the main character is giraffe! I can’t lose!” The mere fact that it has never been done, does not make it a good idea. There has also never been a show where the main character is bucket of platypus snot either!
Get it? The whole agent thing is meant as a filter to keep their time and that of studio brass from being wasted by idiots. A good agent with a solid reputation would never send a dork to a pitch meeting at Disney.

You need to network. Meet people who know agents. Directors, Producers, Art Directors, Lawyers, and Bartenders. Maybe, just maybe if your pitch isn’t completely retarded you might get your foot in the door.

Oh yeah and one last thing.

If you meet an agent who wants to rep you but wants ANY sort of upfront fee, throw your coffee in his face and run. It’s a scam. Real agents are only paid from gigs or deals they hooked up for you. Period. Usually it’s anywhere between 10% to 15% of what you earn.

Good luck!

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Man Vs. Art Episode 18! The Comics Debate. What are comics? What can they do?

Raul — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:36:52 +0000

A Man vs. Art moment of joy!

Hey Amigos! Guess what? I sold a painting at my last group art show!

I’m a resident artist at the Casita del Pueblo Gallery in Uptown Whittier Ca,

Yolanda Garcia the owner invites me to display my fine art drawings, sketches, and paintings in all of her group shows. Currently were working out the details on a solo show for me!

This past February, I displayed four pieces in the Flores Y Corazones show That’s flowers and Hearts. So romance was the theme!

Image number 2 and number 4 are by me!

Victorian influence!

I sold was a watercolor inspired by an old José Guadalupe Posada cartoon of a Victorian era Mexican Charro giving softly kissing his wife goodbye before heading off into battle. I’ve always loved this piece. The body langauage that Posada gave the woman displayed a quiet and deep apprehension about her husband leaving and at the same time showed that in her love and devotion there is strength. She sucked it up. She realized that sending her husband off to war in hysterics would be pointless. There was a strong sense of dignity, properness, and respect that Posada poured into the drawing that captivates me.

One day I was messing around with some left over paint from another project and I painted the piece below. I gave it to my wife and forgot about it. When it came time for the show she framed and delivered it. What a gal!

My inspiration.

Pics from the show!

My lovely wife Hortencia and your truly.

Raul Sr. and Jr.

Good times with good friends!

Fellow artists and Amigos Jim Lujan and Grasiella Rodriguez as supportive as they are talented!

SALUD!

My good friend and Colleague Javier Hernandez the creator of EL Muerto and I enjoying libations!

The Comics debate.

What are comics exactly? What can they do?

I Posted a link on twitter from deviant art about a way of making comics with flash .

about DIGITAL COMICS by *Balak01 on deviant ART

As you all know I’m an Animator as well as a cartoonist and comic artist. So when I saw this flash comic, I was very intrigued. Here is something that would put all of my skills to the test! The reader instead of turning a page, clicks on an arrow revealing the next panel. Though the comic is not animated. The artist sets it up just like a book. The reader still controls the pacing is for each panel.

This technique seems like it could be really fun. Again no sounds. Only word balloons, captions, and sound effects.

In a response to the flash comic demo one of my followers on Twitter, Rene an artist from the Netherlands with the twitter handle rvbelzen wrote:

“Why is this a comic in your opinion? I don’t think it is, but I may be wrong. Enlighten me, please! ”

Self Portrait by Rene van Belzen

So I guess we should start by defining comics.
Comic Book Nerds (of which I am one) disagree on the definition of comics; some say it must be printed! Some are all about the duality of image and text, and yet others its all about sequence. The term “Comics” as a reference to the medium has also come into question.

In his 1993 his manifesto Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud defined sequential art and comics as: “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer”

Pretty good stuff.

Comics legend Will Eisner established the term “sequential art” and is considered to have popularised the graphic novel.
In his 1996 book Graphic Storytelling, his definition of comics is “the printed arrangement of art and balloons in sequence, particularly in comic books.”

I like Eisner’s earlier definition from 1985′s Comics and Sequential Art where he described the technique and structure of comics as sequential art, “…the arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea.” That definition of comics is Perfect!

I feel strongly that the future of comics is going to be in Motion comics. When done correctly they are very cool. They look like traditional comic books, but use sound sometimes and movement for effect.
As of now the motion is pretty simple. A zoom-in or out, pans, light effects, etc. But in the hands of a comic artist with an understanding animation and acting, the sky’s the limit. Part of the challenge will be to create a killer page and keeping it simple. One must use your cartoonist bag of tricks to figure out creative solutions, and that look epic, but didn’t murder you with man hours of work!

Motion comics are perfect for the web and are a cheap and entertaining way to promote bigger projects like movies, video games, or TV Shows. Jobs for Artists! You won’t get rich doing it, but you can pay your bills!

I don’t think stories have to be printed to be called comics. Look at web comics. People can read comics on their, Mac, PC, Ipads, Iphones, Kindle, Sony Reader and more.

Here is a link to download Kindle for your PC for free. I also included a link to a comic sample for the kindle. Hey, it’s the future. We artists should take advantage of the new formats opening up for comics!

So to answer your question Rene,

This flash comic demo of which I speak, is most definitely comics. It fits the criteria and is the next logical step.

Check out the Man vs. Art Episode 18 podcast for more on this!

All Man vs. Art Minions are invited to these two upcoming events!

An Indy Animation FEST!

Get your ass to Pomona!

I will be showing a new cartoon short I just wrapped!

Check out the this teaser still!

Dracula Sucks

PLUS!!

“EVERYDAY PEOPLE” The art of Jim Lujan

Animator/Cartoonist Jim Lujan showcases some strange and lovely paintings drawings, and stills from his cartoons at Geeks in Whittier,CA. Come down and enjoy some food and drink and music.

Mingle, talk your head off, have some food, laugh, let loose and look at the pretty pictures! All ages and its FREE!

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Man vs. Art Episode 17! Giving your art as a gift, Tips for Drawing people in public, plus an interview with Steve Sievers and Dahveed the creators of Supa Pirate Booty Hunt!

Raul — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:20:12 +0000

Salabration Time!

Recently my friends the Cartoonistas and myself celebrated the birthday of our good friend Sal Felix the owner of Geeks comics in Whittier California. It was good times all around! Literally a cartoon Carnival!

The lovely and vivacious Hortencia, the Man vs. Art, and Sal Felix

The usual Gang of Locos! Los Cartoonistas

A group of escaped cartoon loving lunatics that run around drawing funny pictures!

Back row from L to R John Narcomey, Geo Brawn IV, Javier Hernandez, Luis Escobar. Middle row Man vs. Art Raul Aguirre Jr., Grasiella Rodriguez, Rene, Jose Cabrerra Front Row Michael Aushenker, Jim Lujan

We all busted out self portraits on a big poster board and presented it to Sal! Part gift, part vain self promotion! Yipee!

Another Cartoonista shameless promotion!

Here we have a bevy of beauties known as the Cartoonista Groupies!

Pretty ladies to inspire the cartoon madness we put out!

Man Vs. Art busts out an Epic birthday present!

I unveiled a painting that I made as a gift for Sal. I really appreciate his generosity towards the Usual Gang of Locos!

The artist unveils his creation!

Sal Felix, The man, the myth!

Sal Felix by Raul Aguirre Jr.

Life imitates art and art imitates life!

This scene from the classic movie Airplane! with Lloyd Bridges inspired this piece.

Looks Like I picked a bad week to quit smokin'!

My version of the gag!

Looks like I picked a bad week to quit reading comics!

Sal takes the Cake!

Cake makes everyone happy!

Moving right along…..

Some tips when sketching in public.

When you are drawing people in public, it’s a good idea to be discreet. You never know how some folks might react. Especially the ladies and vain guys. You know “Metro” guys. Try to be tactful also. Save the mean drawings to do at home. And for the love of god, if you are going to let people flip through your sketchbook make sure there isn’t anything in there you don’t wouldn’t show to your mother!

I recently attended a wedding where this lady fell victim to my pen.

A lovely young lady I recently sketched.

Steve Sievers and Dahveed! the creators of SUPA PIRATE BOOTY HUNT!

Steve Sievers (l) Dahveed (r)

Some great design work folks! Supa Pirate booty hunt is off da’ chain! Check out the tattoo some chick got! Now that is what I call FAN DEVOTION!

Supa pirate booty hunt RAWKS!

check out the animated shenanigands from the warped minds of Steve Sievers and Dahveed creators of Supa pirate Booty Hunt at www.supapiratebootyhunt.com

So keep those pencils sharp and keep those sketchbooks flipping!

Ciao!

Raul

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Man Vs Art Episode016 The essence of drawing and the meaning of appeal.

Raul — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:57:57 +0000

3 reasons why you the ARTIST must simultaneously be your biggest pimp and worst critic:

1. No one cares or will ever care as deeply about your art as you do.
2. Only you can make choices that define and propel your art.
3. You know your business best and what’s best for your art.

It’s All About Love

No one else but you takes your art home and dwells upon it at dinner, in the evening, during the wee hours of the morning or when you wake up.

It is sheer passion, intensity and insane drive that separates Artists from hobbyists. When all is said and done, the artist is the master of their artwork.

You truly have to “get it” and have it “within you” to succeed in art when it’s “you” who encapsulates the brand.

This takes love, time, dedication and a willingness to look at your art from all angles to improve upon areas that are in need.

A good understanding of the fundamentals of drawing will go a long way in helping you achieve your goals as an artist!

The 5 P’s of drawing.

Proportion:

The ratio between the three dimensions. It is very important to get proportion correct if you are doing a representational drawing. Even the untrained eye can point out a proportion problem.

Placement:

How large or small and how far away objects are is called Placement.

Perspective:

The point of view the artist has chosen and how it relates to the horizon line is called perspective. Once this viewpoint is chosen it must be followed throughout the drawing. In other words you can only have one viewpoint for your perspective to be correct.

Planes:

Surface appearance as defined by light and shadow. Every change in tone is a new plane. So those closet to the light are the light planes, those farthest away are shadow planes, in between are half-tone planes.

Pattern:

The deliberate arrangement of the tones of your subject.

The Five C’s of Drawing:

Learn It, Love it, Live it.

Conception:

The rough sketch or thumbnail of an Idea.

Construction:

Establishing your forms in space following the model or from knowledge.

Contour:

The outline and edges of forms in space in relation to your POV.

Character:

The sum of all things that distinguish one subject from another.

Consistency:

Having all of your elements working together and following the same direction or logic. Plus the ability to reproduce successful drawings and knowing why you can.

In the podcast I mentioned some books you might want to get.

How to draw comics the Marvel Way!

This book is a great way to start. If you look past Stan Lee’s blabbing, you can really learn alot from John Buscema’s presentation of drawing fundamentals.

Must have book!

The Five C’s of Cinematography.

A great book for Storyboard and Animation Artists. It’s old school, but also mandatory for any film maker to know. Good tips that can be applied to drawing and painting as well!

another must have!

Fun with a pencil by Andrew Loomis.

This is a great fun book that has been out of print for a long time. If you click the pick you can download a PDF version.

click the pic for a pdf of this cool book!

Remember, practice! Study your fundamentals! Then practice some more.

One more thing!

Check out my interview on the Ghettomation Podcast with Jim Lujan and Kevin Cross for some more insight to the process of drawing and cartoons!

This time Man vs. Art is on the other side of the microphone! You’ll dig it! Good times!

Mad Man Raul!

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Man vs Art Episode 015 Jim Lujan and I recap the Animation Getdown Plus A Man vs. Art look at the mindset of the artist, and some tips on how to hold your pencil.

Raul — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:41:35 +0000

Who's this Jim Lujan character? Security!!!

The Animation GetDown at Geeks Comics in Whittier California was a total blast We had a full house and the cartoons were awesome! I’d like to thank the following people for helping make the 2010 Geeks Animation Getdown making the Animation Get Down a sucess, Jim Lujan, Gracialla Rodriguez, Steve Sievers, Dahveed, Scott Essman, Kevin Cross, Nuvein Foundation for Literature and the Arts
Enrique Diaz and Renato Aguirre. Who I believe has the coolest last name I’ve ever Heard. I’m Just sayin’.

Sal Felix the owner of Geeks Comics.

Sal Felix the the owner of GEEKS Comics provided us with the wonderful venue and refreshments!, Geeks Comics the best place to scratch your comic book itch! 6747 Greenleaf Ave. Suite A ,Whittier, CA 90601. 562 – 696 – 9393

My lovely Wife Hortencia completes me.

My wife the lovely and vivacious Hortencia Aguirre for providing candy grab bags for the audience and her expert photography service!

Thanks to my Brother Ricardo for showing up! Is it just me or do we look like….

This means something.

I’d also like to thank everyone who attended the show.

: What a great time!

What should mindset as an artist be?

I say you need to be enthusiastic, passionate and dedicated. Most importantly you must have the love. If you don’t love drawing, I mean really LOVE IT! You won’t last. Sorry. Look, creating art is hard. You must love your art enough to get through the tough times.

In the art world you’ll encounter mainly 2 types of negative people. Douche Nozzles and Dumb Asses. How do you spot who is a “Douche Nozzle” and who is the “Dumb Ass” depends on who you ask. One person’s “Douche Nozzle” might be another person’s “Dumb Ass”.

It sometimes happens that when a person disagrees with us, we want to label them either an uppity “Douche Nozzle” or a Lowly “Dumb Ass”. They are too stupid to see things “our way”. Or, they are too stubborn and “uptight” because they refuse to appreciate something we admire. But are these people really a Douche Nozzle or a Dumb Ass?

Everyone entitled to an opinion.

It’s how you express it. Be polite and gracious that’s all.

How to hold your pencil when you draw.

Kimon Nicolaïdes

Some useful pencil wrangling tips!

2 Books that are Man vs. Art required reading.

1. The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaïdes

THEE BOOK!

This is a must for anyone serious on learning how to learn to draw. Get it? This book teaches you how to approach your study of drawing. This book is a solid beginning and only for for the dedicated. NO POSERS! Do the exercises, the best you can but more importantly draw. Draw everyday. Some will complain, “Awe man it will take me years to do this!” What do you plan on retiring your pencil the day you learn how to draw? It doesn’t take years, it takes a lifetime of hard work to learn how to learn to draw.
Chuck Jones followed it, as well as Shamus Culhane who wrote the next book.

2. Animation from script to screen by Shamus Culhane

No. B.S. approach to making cartoons!

During my internship at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1994 my first Animation Mentor Dave Zaboski recommended this book by Shamus Culhane, and it was a blast! Shamus animated the famous Pluto and the Flypaper sequence and “Honest John” Foulfellow the fox and Gideon the dopey cat on Pinnochio. He worked at Warners and UPA and is considered a master. He makes it possible to learn animation from a book. Covering every aspect of film animation, from basic mechanics to giving creativity full play, and including writing, recording, acting, dialogue-even how to mange an animation studio of one’s own, Culhane fulfills the promise of his title-”from script to screen. This book contains more than 130 illustrations, graphic exercises, and sketches for an honest hands-on experience for the novice.

Man vs. Art animated promotional video.

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Man Vs. Art Episode 014! So you want to be an artist? 5 Unavoidable truths about being an artist.

Raul — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:04:36 +0000

Drawing is a skill ANYONE can learn whether or not they possess “natural talent”.

And I do mean anyone.

Yes. Even a guy like Bernie Lipshitz.

Bernie Lipshitz Rookie Artist at large.

If you are serious about learning how to draw, there are a few things you need right off the bat.

The desire to to learn, education, patience, dedication, and most important of all,

you need tons and tons of practice!

Before embarking on your lifelong quest to master drawing, you must be aware of what I call ” 5 unavoidable truths of being an artist.” If you can’t accept ALL of these, perhaps you should try something other than art.

Let us face up to what to many, is “un-face-up-to-able.”

UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #1

Never underestimate how dopey we all can be.

You are going to screw up.

Repeat. You are going to screw up both royally and often. It’s part of the process. Don’t beat yourself up if your drawing of Marylin Monroe looks more like Marylin Manson. Chin up! A good artist quickly learn to recognize his mistakes and learns from them.

Avoid being too self-critical. No one can be as good as Michelangelo on Monday morning at nine am their first day as an artist! It will take time for you to develop. Which brings us to the next truth.

UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #2

You must dedicate a significant part of your time to practicing how to draw.

If you aren't making funny noises with your mouth, you are not drawing HARD enough!

People always ask me, “Raul, how do you get to Disney ?

My answer. ” Practice.”

Every single artist has at least a zillion crappy drawings within him or her. The sooner you get them out of the way or “exorcise” them the better. Get it? I myself am already on my two zillionth one.

UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #3

You must learn to accept criticism from EVERYBODY.

Ignore the douche nozzles!

You must learn to accept criticism from EVERYBODY.

Always accept a critique with a smile and a thank you. Even if you think the critic is blind or high.

It’s up to you if you follow up on the criticism or not. Arguing with a critic is like arguing with a drunk. Pointless. Use logic not emotion to determine your reaction. That’s being a pro.

UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #4

Competition between artists is a waste of time.

Don't waste energy on being competitive. Be the best you can be.

You feel jealous towards your artistic rival, your Lex Luthor, because he just sold a big painting, that you know sucks. A Unicorn running on a rainbow?!! In outer space?!!! Forget Lex Luthor! What the heck does he have to do with you becoming the best artist you can be? Competitive behavior is a waste of time. Use that energy on your projects! Besides, everyone has a different background, as well as tastes, and visions! We are all unique and special. Like little snowflakes!

UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #5

It's not the pencil that makes the drawing.

I hate to break it to you all, but in the early stages of an artist’s career, the quality of the drawing implement has little if nothing to do with the sucess of a drawing.

A rookie will get the same results

whether he uses a chewed up golf pencil he found under the couch.

or the $375.00 Porsche Design P3150 Collection – Black Leather Pencil. That’s right i said a Porsche pencil. It comes down to the skill of the artist weilding the pencil.

I wonder how fast this Porsche pencil can draw?

Eventually you’ll want a couple of decent wire-bound sketchbooks.

A good wire-bound sketchbook is essential for an artist!

This will help you keep organized and most importantly help you chart your progress. At this stage you don’t need anything fancier. In fact I highly recommend you not buy any fancy pencils, pens, paper or leather bound sketchbooks. There will be plenty of time for that later when your Draw FU is stronger. You’ll be too afraid to screw up with the fancy stuff and it WILL affect your drawing.

Speaking of STRONG DRAW FU…

Back in my days at Walt Disney Feature Animation, a good friend of mine, The openly Canadian Supervising Animator Mike Surrey used a yellow #2 pencil to animate his scenes.

Here I am with Mike Surrey at the Walt Disney Feature Animation TARZAN Wrap Party

He’s the guy that gave us Timon, Clopin on Hunchback, Terk on Tarzan, Commander Rourke on Atlantis and Buck on Home on the Range. One of the most brilliant animators ever. He was my mentor for the four years prior to my working with Glen Keane. It was thanks to his teaching and patience that prepared me to be Glen’s assistant.

Mike is a great dude with a killer sense of humor, who was always willing to give me a few minutes to go over my scenes. He taught me how to approach animation with confidence! I found his lively and expressive drawings to be quite an inspiration! Yet he drew these Disney masterpieces with the same pencil you take the SAT with.

Mike Surrey Master Animator!

Here is a recent audio interview with Disney Animators Mike Surrey and Mark Henn.

PRX THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG: Disney animators talk to Andrea Chase
http://www.prx.org/pieces/43057-the-princess-and-the-frog-disney-animators-mark-h

Check out the 2D traditional animation demonstration Mike did here!

For those that don’t believe me about Mike’s penchant for Yellow number 2 pencils, check out what he’s drawing with in the vid.

During my 2005 trip to Europe I had an interesting encounter with a rookie or “rook” as I like to call them.

: This kid was determined to be an artist.

I was befriended by a German kid thatwas really interested in what I was doing.

The kid ran into me while I was sketching fellow passengers aboard this ferry on the Aegean Sea. We sat and talked for quite a while. IT turns out I was the deciding factor in his choosing to become an artist. I guess announcing his decision to me made it official or something. BTW His voice wasn’t as dorky as my ” dramatic reenactment.” But as you all know, here at Man Vs. Art, we like putting extra salsa on the tacos!

GEEKS COMICS PRESENTS:

ANIMATION GETDOWN 2010!

Everyone is invited to Geeks Animation Getdown 2010! I teamed up with my friends and fellow animation artists Jim Lujan, Graciella Rodriguez, and Scott Essman and we are are putting on a show! Sal the Owner of Geeks Comics in Whittier CA, has been kind enough to provide the venue! Once you watch our cartoons, you can’t unwatch them!

Check out the promotional video I made.

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Man Vs. Art Episode 13! Part 2 of Indy Comic Book Creator Geo Brawn IV Interview!

Raul — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:36:38 +0000

Plus The 2009 Man vs. Art Christmas card and more!

But first Geo Brawn IV

In today’s podcast I present you guys with part two of my chat with my friend and esteemed colleague Los Angeles Indy Comic Creator Geo Brawn IV. We get down to brass tacks about Geo’s technique and approach!I learned for example he uses Tuxedo Black Acme Bic markers. A pretty common pen you can pick up at any office supply store for your drawing needs.

Keep it simple with BIC!

BIC Mark-It Permanent Markers, Ultra-Fine Point, Tuxedo Black.
Ideal for small spaces and detailed crafts. Textured rubber grip is engineered for comfort and control. Marks on glass, metal, CD’s, coated paper, photos, plastics. Long cap-off life. Vivid, quick-drying ink resists water.

Holy Crap what a wonderful pen! Too bad it’s gone!

I was a Victim of Circumstance!

It’s a good idea to use a common type of drawing implement. I unfortunately got hooked big time on these wonderful disposable fountain pens from Pentel way back when I was at Film Roman in 2003. These are AWESOME! They give you a consistent Crisp thin line that you can make thicker by applying the slightest pressure.

When I was wrapping my short Hero Heights at Nickelodeon in the summer of 2006 I discovered the pen had been discontinued! The Horror! I couldn’t find them anywhere anymore.

One day I walked into a local Mom ‘n’ Pop Art Supply store near my home in Downey California and asked the guy if he had any of those pens. He opened a drawer and there were like about FIFTY of them! I was happier than a poet on pay day! I bought them all and have been using them since. I’m down to my last dozen or so and need to ween myself off of them like real soon!

So let that be a lesson. Be careful of what tool you choose for drawing. You don’t want to wake up one day and find out they stopped making them.

Anyway……

How about taking a gander at a couple of Olivia’s beauties!

Sweeeet!

Hellooooo nurse!

The famous Pin Up artist Olivia, who’s wonderful illustrations of beautiful women have been gracing the pages of Playboy and Heavy Metal for years! Well, as it turns out, she is a big influence on Geo. I can see why! I mean wow! Just look at how stunning her pieces are! Wonderfully executed works of art that really capture the beauty of women that we all love so much!

Ahooogah!

Big Guys of the world UNITE!

Geo and I share many things in common. Besides the whole artist writer thing we are both also big intimidating looking dudes with deep voices. We look like fugitives from a Wookie convention. We get crap from people all the time. The cool thing is when we get tired of it we just squash the little runts. Most guys like us are bouncers, cops and hired muscle not artists! So we throw people off everywhere we go. I like that.

Geo by Raul

Remember in the last podcast, we found out people mistake Geo for being Samoan! That’s a group of folks famous for their size and ferocity!

So the next time you a see a huge goon. Be careful. He might draw your picture.

Sheila called.

If you check out the podcast you’ll hear me taking some calls from the audience. We had a great call from Sheila from West Hollywood. She runs a “petite” girl’s boutique on Melrose called “The Girly Cue.”

Man what a crazy broad!

What’s on Raul’s desk?

I thought I would share with you guys what I’m currently working on.

First up is a character design for a show I created called Cuddles King of Congo Island.

Meet Dr. Gideon G. Granola.

The Old New Age Guy

Dr. Gideon G. Granola

He’s the eccentric , some say senile, gazillionaire philanthropist, extreme environmentalist, militant vegan, pacifist, wildlife expert, Dr. G. Gideon Granola.

A relic of the sixties now pushing seventy. His family owns the famous Granola Discount Freight Company and with the profits from said company Dr. Granola funds his crazy expeditions.

And why not? He is after all the world’s top authority in Eco- Biology and officially holds the title ” World’s Oldest Tree Hugger.” If you want proof there is a picture of him at the Smithsonian hugging General Sherman, the world’s oldest and most gigantic Sequoia Redwood, when it was only a sapling! He is into all things hippie and new age and has a strange but very Zen way of looking at stuff. Meditation is a big part of his life, and he does it often, both on purpose and otherwise. He goes in and out of “Zen” like trances and after a long, sometimes uncomfortable pause says…….. “What?”

He is mellow for the most part but gets really really excited about nature! I mean really excited. He loves nature and everything about it! Even the stuff that could kill you. All the bugs, plants, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals are all equal in his mind. On the other hand if sees someone harming nature it becomes personal.

His eagerness and spirit have not diminished in his old age. Dr. Granola likes being in the field where he can make things happen, and where his flatulence is less noticeable.

He is forgetful and a little flaky. Did I mention his gold medal in “funny old man Tai Chi?” Its true!

World's oldest tree hugger.

When he announced he would be leading an expedition to find the fabled “Congo Island” everyone laughed and called it folly. But he knew better! Now that he’s found it, he plans to study and catalog as much of the island’s wonders as he can. Secretly Dr. Granola is searching for “The Fountain of Youth” Yes that one! He has reason to believe the fountain is on Congo Island and he’s going to find it.

From Fartsy to Artsy. A fine art commission.

This is the charcoal value study for a portrait I have been commissioned to paint. I just finished the drawing last night and am priming my canvas right now.

value study for a portrait commission

Sketching as a performance?! No really I swear!

And here you will find something really really cool that I got involved with Lily Feliciano at The Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood runs a Sketch Theater.com. A celebration of the process of sketching! Sketch Theater invites professional artists and films them from above as they draw. Then they speed up the footage and add some cool music making a performance video out of sketching!

Recently I went in to be filmed and Lily just put up my first video!
Check it out!

And now a moment of reflection for the Holidays.

Las posadas by Raul Aguirre Jr.

Each year I make a Christmas card for my wife and I to send out to our friends and family. Here is this year’s card for you Man Vs. Art minions to enjoy. It depicts the Mexican Christmas tradition called Las Posadas or “the inns”

Las Posadas is a yearly neighborhood tradition for Catholic Mexicans that symbolizes the hardship Mary and Joseph endured before finally finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born. From December 16th to the 24th each family in a neighborhood sets up a nativity scene and acting as innkeepers will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home. The neighborhood kids portray pilgrims (peregrinos), who seek lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song.

All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and two kids carry small statues of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding. At each house the resident sings a refusal for lodging until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter.

Once the “innkeepers” let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray the rosary.Then it’s time for a good old fashioned Christmas hoe down Mexico Style! Children will break open piñatas by striking these colorful paper-maché (traditionally terracotta) objects with sticks while blindfolded to obtain candy hidden inside, and there will be a feast of tamales, buñuelos, and atolé!

Isn’t tradition awesome!

We here at ManVsArt.com would like to wish every single one of you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season and thank you from the bottom of our hears for making Man Vs. Art your choice for art related shenanigans and fun!

Raul and Che.

My Channel On Big Contact

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Man Vs. Art Episode 12! Interview with Geo Brawn IV! Creator of “The Untold Chronicles!

Raul — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:30:22 +0000

Ok folks!

Big Show!! Lots to share.

First up, I am proud to present part one of my two part chat with local Indy Comic Creator, Illustrator, and Samoan Impersonator Geo Brawn IV.

Geo_Brawn_IV being suave.

Here is the initiation ceremony where Geo and Luis Escobar were sworn into the Cartoonistas!

Geo had his hand on a hardcover of Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Luis used volume two of the essential Spider-man!

Inside info about Geo’s Epic Vampire tale The Untold Chronicles!

For thousands of years the stories have remained untold… until now. We’re talking serious stuff, with a heavy duty hook.

Bloody hot!

The image above scares the living s*** out of me in a good way!

You gotta check it out!

Godzilla!

Dorky Kong!

King Kong Vs. Godzilla! Oh yeah it's on Kong!

A promo piece for the movie from 1962!

Kong Designed by homeless guys. Still more fun than Peter Jackson's WTF version.

In the Bottom Pic of Kong, what’s going on with the raised leg? Two Knees? Gotta dig the cheese factor people!

It’s what separates us from the monkeys! That and the flinging poo thing!

PLUS!!!

Elvira

The horror Hostess with the Mostest!

Bruce Lee!

Bruce Lee the man, the myth

Eli Wallach. Greatest Mexican Actor who is not Mexican! Ever.

Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez

Shogun Warriors!
Tom Hatten!

In Los Angeles during the 70′s and 80′s Tom Hatten hosted a cartoon show called Popeye and Friends, where he showed old toons and drew pictures of the characters!!! He also hosted “The Family Film Festival” which showcased classic films with guys like the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and even Jerry Lewis! Good Times!!!

A guy named Ariel!
Cosby!
Australian d***k wrestling!
Alan Moore!
Childhood memories and trauma!
That’s right! I got stretch monster as a kid! I was once little! I swear!

A little holiday fun and memories.

Music and sound effects up the waz! Almost an hour of fun and insanity all for the price of, well….FREE! You can’t beat that!

You’ve heard the podcast!!! You Can’t unhear it!

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-cf20e0e90b3d212e4e1724ec753eed3c}

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The Art Of Darkness. Although Dorkness is more like it. Angst Wangst!

Raul — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:54:22 +0000

Dark Art. Art that is Dark. Angst. Pain. Nightmares composed of hideous things doing hideous things to other hideous things. It’s everywhere. It dominates our culture.

H.R Giger loves the dong!

C'mon people. Admit it.....This sucks!

Oh poor Royo. I feel your pain and agony. Let me help you with that sack of money while you climb into your Ferrari.

I am sick of it.

I’ll tell you what, I think it’s all a big scam and frankly I think it sucks. There was always a dark corner for pasty faced weirdos to draw and paint a guy hanging from the nuts with fish hooks over a pit of demons. A few dorks with no personality who read into the Sandman a bit too much had their little corner in the art world staked up. Guess what? Now these guys have taken over and the worst part is everyone is buying into it. All of a sudden heroes couldn’t wear brightly colored costumes when fighting the minions of darkness. Now the heroes are indistinguishable from the minions they fight. You see it in movies, comics, video games and TV.

Everything is dark and angst ridden.

Why EVERYTHING?!! Since when did it become uncool to be a good guy? In the latest Superman movie he’s a dead beat dad stalker!!!! That’s not the big blue boy scout I recall! If you ask me the world needs more good guys, both in reality as well as fiction. Back in the early part of this century America and it’s allies fought the darkest emo douche bag of them all. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi monsters. They were bad. Evil. Even their friggin’ uniforms looked evil man! Well our grand parents and great grandparents had a real clear cut view in their minds about Good Vs. Evil. And what it meant to be one or the other. Why? Because their culture taught them that the guys in black are evil. There is a clear distinction between the two. Look at the literature and pop culture of the time. Flash Gordon, Tarzan, need I go on? If today’s soft, deluded and self centered knuckleheads were transported to WWII the Nazis would have won. Go ahead send in the hate mail. You know I’m right.

Today pop culture teaches that there is no good. Every hero is just one traumatic experience away from being a psychopath. In order to defeat evil, good needs to be bad. It’s deconstructionism, it’s edgy, it’s LAZY WRITING. ” Batman beats the derelict senseless in order to get the location of the Joker’s Lair.” Is so much easier to write than perhaps “Batman relies on detective skills to track down the Joker” The writer would actually have to come up with an intricate plot that could possibly be interesting. Nah, I’d rather read 22 pages of Batman pimp slapping a crackhead….again.

Every good guy has to act and look evil or at least be dark.

Look at the costumes of super heroes in movies today. The only brightness is the gleam from the smile on the studio execs when they cash their paychecks. Everyone is dressed like the Matrix. It’s retarded.

Why was this made?

Wolverine looks tame! His hair is combed WTF?!!! What is this? The black leather fetish convention?

On the other hand….

Look at this Steranko X-men cover. Brilliant and powerful. These guys look like good guys and the book looks fun. Look everyone COLOR!!!

Steranko Rules Period.

You gotta love the skull eyeballs. Pure friggin’ Steranko my friends!

Or look at this exquisite George Perez mega cover! Now those are super heroes! Nothing dark and fruity about this! These are the colors I want to see in film adaptations. Why is this not possible? Is Hollywood blind as well as stupid? With HDTV and all that other hi tech crap this stuff should be pouring out of the screen and assaulting our senses! Nope. Black leather and muted colors please.

George Perez Rules! I mean look at this!

There are so many other avenues of the human condition yet to be explored by art. Why have we collectively stopped at angst? It’s self serving self indulgent crap. Let’s grow up and see that there is a bigger world out there than vampires dressed in designer outfits. I dare you!

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Man Vs. Art Halloween Special 2009! Edgar Alan Poe, Bill Melendez, Chuck Jones, and why today’s horror movies suck.

Raul — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:15:37 +0000

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the Man Vs. Art Halloween Special!

This is the the blog and podcast that helps you become a better artist!

On Saturday October the 10th I celebrated the release of my new comic book Codename Sparrow at Geeks Comics in Whittier California. I showcased about 25 pieces of original artwork that were used in the development of my comic.

I am thrilled to announce it was a full house! My lovely wife Hortencia , myself, and Sal the owner of Geeks were thrilled to see so many folks there in support of Codename Sparrow! Friends, Family, and Colleagues lined the shop and made it an eventful event!

Though it was great to see family and friends I had not seen in a long time, I enjoyed talking to the youngsters the most. Seeing little kids literally soaking their pants with joy over my work was so rewarding! There wasn’t a dry pamper in the house! Here is a fumetti I made commemorating the show!

Sal the owner of Geeks Books in Whittier California

Little Kids get a big kick out of Codename Sparrow!

My friends and colleauges showed up to show support!

OK enough of the show.

Let’s get on with the Halloween Special! You can’t have Halloween without……

Halloween is not complete without this cartoon!

One of my absolute favorite Holiday specials ever in the history of the universe is without a doubt Charles’s Schulz’s It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown produced on a shoestring budget and against an impossible deadline by the late great José Cuauhtemoc “Bill” Meléndez. To this day nothing comes close to the warmth and charm this cartoon radiates.

My Lunch with Bill Melendez.

I was lucky enough to meet Bill Melendez at his Studio about 5 years ago. A mutual friend arranged for us to have lunch and it was unforgettable! He had stories about how he loved giving Chuck Jones a hard time at Warners in the forties and he told me about the nightmare that the Charlie Brown Christmas special was to make. He said that during production the brass didn’t want real kids cast as the voices, nor did they want the jazzy soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi and most of all the Brass did not want Linus’s speech at the end of the cartoon where he explains the true meaning of Christmas.

Luckily for us, Bill and Schulz fought for those things and gave us such a memorable show. When they were done the Brass at the screening was horrified at the result saying the audience would hate it. I love it when folks like that are proven wrong.

My lunch with Bill went for almost 3 hours and we each downed like three or four martinis. As we stumbled out into the parking lot I managed to get a pic with a cell phone. I cut 90% of my head off, but look at big the smile was on Bill’s face! I hope that when I’m in my late 80’s after such a long career in animation I can smile half as big as Bill!
From there we hopped into Bill’s chauffeured Benz and went to his studio. I crashed on the couch and got to listen to Bill’s fun stories about his days working with Clampett Avery and Chuck Jones in the infamous Termite terrace.

The Directors from WB Looney Tunes on the steps of Termite Terrace.

The young and very mustached Bill Melendez

Bill Melendez at his work station.

You can see more Melendez stuff here at his own website. Which BTW is really well done!

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A quick Painting Demo for the cover of my comic book Codename: Sparrow! Plus where to get a copy!

Raul — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:31:52 +0000

Here you’ll find a “speed painting I did for the cover of my comic book Codename: Sparrow.

Check it out the final cover of Codename: Sparrow!

Codename:Sparrow By Raul Aguirre Jr. Cover

Codename Sparrow is about International Playboy and Gentleman Thief Eddie Torres who is at the top of his game, and through no fault of his own has it taken away. Rather than rot in prison he accepts an offer to be a covert operative for a private “Good Guy” agency called N.E.S.T

The first story HOT ICE is about Eddie’s Cat Burglar days. In order for you to really know him I feel it will be necessary to do some stories set in that time. The second story “ The Name of the Game” is about his early days in the agency more specifically it’s about how he got his cool Codename. A time when he was transitioning from being a thief to being a covert operative. As an artist and especially writer I found this time to be very juicy!

I hope you do to!

Click on the banner below to find a sneak peak at the first 6 pages of the book. Plus you can order your very own copy of Codename: Sparrow issue # Zero!

Click the banner to get your own copy of the baddest ass comic book to come out in a long time!

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MAN vs. ART 10 minute Drawing Lesson #2. Building your drawing from the inside out!

Raul — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:40:50 +0000

The book I found in my grandparents Attic.

The inside of the great book of silliness!

#8,443 Draw a Puppy arm wrestling a Tyrannosaurus Rex

Today you guys are going to see how a drawing is composed in order to communicate a “gag” or theme the most effectively. This i s the way I was taught to approach a drawing during my days at Disney. You start with the most important section of the drawing and work outwards with each element supporting the previous one. Don’t believe me? Check out the video!

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Man Vs. Art and the finely inked line between Comic Books and 2d Animation. Why I walk the line.

Raul — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:11:34 +0000

I have LOVED comics my entire life. I still do. To me there is something magical about telling a story with pictures!
The magic comes from the transitions. When we go from one panel to the next.

Transitions in real life are just as interesting. As you will soon read.
I left art school in 1992 and was all ready begin a career in comics.

I was scared away by the over saturated, variant cover, chromium card, gimmicky sea of rip-offs where mediocrity and flashiness were celebrated, and hailed as genius.

Now, I’m going to pick on Mcfarlane, but that’s OK.

He’s a big boy, I’m sure he’ll be fine in his castle where he laughs at me from atop a big pile of money.

spiderman #1 by Mcfarlane

Notice how the vanishing point on the webbing is Spider-man’s spider sack. Why?

Showing originality and unending imagination! Wow!

Here Spewn, oh I’m sorry. Spawn looks like he’s trying to push a battleship anchor chain out of his bowels. Or like my 3 year old nephew Aiden says. “Spawn poops chains.” Glittery chains I added.

The overdrawn badly crap even made it’s way into sculpture!

Look!

not just awful. Gawd Awful!

He is easily amused boy! He wears a trenchcoat every day but lives in Phoenix.

“WOW look at all the detail!”

Kent Melton. Now those are sculptures!

Wow get a load of these! The poses! The expressions! The quality!

Mcfarlane’s work was really all over the place. Absolutely no planning went into his layouts or pages. I can prove it. Look here!

He is easily amused by bad OVERdrawing!

What is Spawn doing on page one? Hovering menacingly 11 inches off of the ground battling his own cape? Obviously Mr. Baseball wanted to show Spawn hovering above the band Poison as they menaced a girl atop a pile of rubble in an alley. Obviously he choked. But look at the DETAIL!!!

Why did so many of his pages have panel’s like the last two on the top row of page two? What i s that? Half an eye? Twice? He didn’ t leave enough room to draw a complete eye people.

Okay and the guy going through a window. Take a good look. According to the first page they are outside. In an alley. The guy is being thrown through a window outside from the outside? OR is he being thrown into a room? WTF? And here’s a classic Mcfarlane CHOKE! Look at the detail in the broken glass! It matters not that glass does not shatter in this way, look at that golden brown thing coming through the glass along with punk #1. Cloth of some sort? Curtain? Nope it’s a brown useless blob supposed to indicate force but really was so that the crappy broken glass doesn’t interfere with the line work on the character. A little planning could have solved it. NO thanks, Mr. Baseball took the easy and ugly way out.

What do people mean ” Detail?” From what I gather arbitrary pen scratches that serve no purpose much less define a form equals “detail.” I can stare at this inadvertent optical illusion panel from Rob Liefeld’s Judgment Day for hours. Just who is standing in front of who? Hmm?

I for one saw the emperor had no clothes. “It’s a cookbook!” I screamed to no avail. Comics had become pointlessly dark and all of my beloved childhood heroes became gritty blood thirsty psychopaths or got killed and replaced by gritty blood thirsty psychopaths. I couldn’t argue with Spawn’s numbers.

No critique of comics would be complete without reaming Liefeld right? It’s like shooting Skrulls in a barrel! So I let Che have a go at it in the podcast.

The following images are visual aids for Che’s bit.

The Talking Che Guevara T-shirt takes a few jabs at Liefeld.

What are those stupid steel fins for? To impale your head?!!

And finally The worst drawing I have ever seen.

What’s up with the hooters CAP?

No wonder Marvel Blew his brains out.

TICE NITS CAPTAIN AMERICA!

Meanwhile Disney had recently put out Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

The Beast by my Mentor Glen Keane.

Without hesitation, I went into animation and was immediately hired by Disney at 22. For reasons of taste as well as safety, it was mandatory that artists wear vests back then. Instead of action figure collections on our monitors we wore vests.

Here's an old Photograph of me and the gang at Disney back in 1995!

My eight year stint at Disney consumed my youth and almost cost me my marriage. Then in 2002 some suit in a boardroom decided that suits could get a bigger bonus if American Hand Drawn Animation was done in India. Rather than move to Calcutta, or give up drawing for digital animation, I went into TV animation and did storyboards and character designs for a bunch of different places.

There it was again another transition. I was beginning to see the pattern. I remember reading the scripts at these places and thinking how terrible they were. Written by people with no imagination . I started writing the story of an ex-thief ‘s transition into the world of international espionage. It sat on my shelf, every once in a while I added something new or changed another thing but for the next seven years it was always in the back of my mind.

In 2006 I wrote directed and produced my own short at Nickelodeon called Hero Heights.

An animated homage to comic books. Since then the animation jobs have been harder to come by and the projects have gotten lamer and lamer. So once again I have been transitioning this time into many different areas. Comics, Fine Art, Writing and Development, Web Design, and Podcasting. I have designed and built my own website studioraul.com as well as my own blog manvsart.com and I produce the weekly podcast Man Vs. Art about art, animation and comics. Also in this time I have developed almost a dozen properties for animation, comics, videogames and web. All modular in terms of medium. All super kick ass in terms of kick ass factor.

Finally in 2009 the crappy economy gave me time to finally do my book. This comic is a result of all those years of slaving in animation only to be rewarded by a kick in the balls from the studios and betrayed by a lazy, greedy, halfwit of an assistant. Here in my own independently published comic book no one is telling me what to write or draw. Also there is no danger of some other knucklehead like my greedy, halfwit of an assistant destroying my work. I alone decide everything. That way if anything goes wrong I have only myself to blame.

Codename Sparrow is about a guy at the top of his game who through no fault of his own has it taken away. Rather than rot in prison he accepts an offer to be a covert operative for a private “Good Guy” agency. The first story HOT ICE is about Eddie’s Cat Burglar days. In order for you to really know him I feel it will be necessary to do some stories set in that time. The second story “ The Name of the Game” is about his early days in the agency more specifically it’s about how he got his cool Codename. A time when he was transitioning from being a thief to being a covert operative. As an artist and especially writer I found this time to be very juicy.

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Man Vs. Art gets a one man Art Show! Plus! A candid interview with talented Los Angeles Independent Animator Jim Lujan.

Raul — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:39:51 +0000

So, first off an announcement!

RAUL AGUIRRE Jr. ART SHOW!!

On Saturday October 1oth 2009 Geeks Comics in beautiful uptown Whittier California will be hosting “NIGHT OF THE SPARROW” a solo Art Show and book signing for little ol’ me! That’s right, I will be celebrating the release of my self published action adventure romance and espionage comic book “CODENAME: SPARROW” I’ll be there signing the book and showcasing a gallery of fine drawings and paintings based on the characters in “CODENAME: SPARROW!” There will be prints for sale as well as original work! So c’mon down and say hi!

Check out the promotional piece I made for the event.

Welcome to part two of Man Vs. Art Episode 007!

You are all in for a treat! Submitted for your enjoyment and animation education is my first Interview on Man Vs. Art! The first of many I hope. I’ve been on the other side of the mic plenty of times before, this marks the beginning of my foray into interviewmanship. Hey I think I invented a word! I feel like Don King.

Who the @#?!! is Jim Lujan?

He is a friend, colleague, and all around nut job! Jim Lujan who was instrumental in getting me to start this blog and Podcast. In fact he demanded it! He is a very funny fellow with quite a few loose screws in that head, which makes him the perfect candidate for a career in Cartooning!

I met Jim thanks to networking Maestro Javier Hernandez the creator of El Muerto, Man Swamp and Demolition Dove! Javier asked me to join his Artist Collective the San Gabriel Valley Cartoonistas. A secret society bent on world domination through the use of Cartoons, Comics and Animation. We make public appearances and perform live art all over town with the support of the Nuvein Foundation for Literature and the Arts.

They are a A small non-profit organization in El Monte California that is committed to connecting communities to the arts. Nuvein Foundation’s mission is to raise funds for scholarships for students pursuing a career in the arts and to support those already in the arts. Nuvein is also committed to showcasing the arts through community arts presentations, live performances, and educational programs.

And now I’m involved with them! God Help us all!

Here is one of Jim’s many films, it’s his latest Called John Henry Unicorn.

If you want more Jim try these links!

Jim’s Blog

Jim’s youtube channel is worth a look. Set your ass to “Laughed off!”

Jim Lujan and Raul Aguirre jr.

Self inflicted portraits by Jim, a shot of Jim taunting school children because they can’t drive, a cartoon I made lampooning Luca Brazzi in the Godfather when I was inducted into the Cartoonistas. That’s a tall and elegant Javier Hernandez as the Don, and looking like Sonny is Jim.

Here are a few of the things we mentioned in the interview.

Ralph Bakshi’s

Coolworld 1992

Wizards 1977

Lord of the Rings

A Touch of Evil opening shot.

Darn Good Flick!

Get your stinkin' paws off me you damn dirty Gringo.

Absolutely Brilliant! Orson Welles as a crooked fat cop and Charlton Heston plays a MEXICAN!!! CARAMBA!

It was fun doing and putting together the interview and I hope youfolks enjoy it!

Have an Artful Day!

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King Taco with Glen Keane: A Tale from the Days When Animation was Hand Drawn and Heartfelt.

Raul — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:54:12 +0000

OK boys and girls, this post promises to be a doozy.

A wee bit of news.

recently my wife Hortencia and I attended the Hispanic Outreach Taskforce’s fifth annual Art and Music scholarship benefit at the beautiful Whittier Hills estate of Dr. Richard and Mrs. Rebecca Zapanta. Yolanda Garcia the owner of the Casita Del Pueblo Gallery in Whittier asked me if I could donate a painting to the silent auction she was coordinating at the event.

By the way, the setup was sweet! There was a live band playing Latin Jazz, complimentary wine donated by Francis Ford Copolla, and lots of ART!

It was a really cool event, except for the frigging’ heat! As everyone knows Los Angeles was completely on fire again and boy in the early afternoon It was so hot, the beads of sweat rolling down my back had beads of sweat rolling down their backs! I did manage to do some sketches in my Moleskin and met a few really cool folks, and lots of ART!

sketchbook pages from my day at the Zapanta Estate.

Sketch #3 from my day at the Zapanta Estate

Sketch # 4 from my day at the Zapanta Estate.

I want to thank Yolanda for putting together such an awesome benefit! And big thanks Dr. Richard and Mrs. Rebbecca Zapanta for letting a bunch of artists run around their property!

Moving Right Along:What does A fat lady, a DVD, King Taco, Modelo Beer, and Glen Keane have in common?

Today I’m going to share something really cool that happened to me when I was at Walt Disney Feature Animation. I was reminded of this while waiting in line at the local Sam’s club this afternoon.

Which is a story in and of itself as you shall soon read.

There I was getting the essentials, you know? Root beer, smokes, a set of radial tires, ninety nine pairs of socks, a five gallon jar of mustard for me, and tin of shortbread cookies for my wife. In front of me stood what can best be described as a sea manatee in flip flops. A really really really fat lady. The kind of person that is easier to jump over than to go around. during a fire. Her cart was jammed full of fatty processed crap food. Loaves of cheese, 3 foot salamis, a twenty four pack of hams. Not slices of hams. Hams! Twenty four whole hams! Plus a tower of beef patties, half of the pastry aisle, and like five cases of diet soda to wash it all down. She had two little kids with her. I am using little to describe their ages okay? These kids were not little in any way. They were diligently following in mom’s hoof prints. Chunks off the old block.

Jabba the Mom started loading her stuff onto the conveyor belt. Then she reached behind the forty five can ravioli fun case and the 2 pack of fire extinguisher sized whipped cream bottles and pulled out a DVD copy of Walt Disney’s Treasure Planet. I dunno probably to feed it to the kids on the ride home.

Then the clerk some greasy emo kid with a nose piercing tattoos and haircut that screamed,”My Dad didn’t kick my ass enough!”

said,”Oh wow man Treasure planet that is like so old! I was a kid when came out! I remember hearing that they like crossed drawings with computers and stuff. ”

The Fat lady in a voice that somehow sounded like whale song said,

“Really I thought all cartoons were done on computers and stuff since Disney made “Shrek.”

I almost flipped out. There were sooooo many things wrong with this conversation I couldn’t keep count.

But what was I going to do? Be the total douche and be all,

” Excuse me fine citizens I couldn’t help but over hear you. I am Animation Man! A super powered being from the second dimension. My duty is to travel the universe at 24 frames per second creating awareness of animation and correcting misconceptions! Even the ones that the studios purposely create! Yes my young greasy lad, Treasure Planet and more specifically Long John Silver was a hybrid character composed of a complex layering of Traditional hand drawn animation and state of the art CGI. Take it from me kid I was there. What’s more I was instrumental in the creation of that character in more ways than one. Also seven years is not that long and what do you mean was a kid? You are still are a kid. And you my good sea manatee, Shrek was made by Dreamworks not Disney Yes I know it had all the Disney Characters in it, but that’s because the makers of that movie were all bitter Ex-Disney people who wanted to stick it to the mouse. In the end like all Dreamworks movies it made a couple of guys a ton of money. None of them artists. And left the public feeling confused and insulted.”

So rather than look like a douche, I put on my Ipod, got a Zeppelin fix, and proceeded with my consumerism.

Some of the talented folk I worked with on Treasure Planet.

When I got home i got all to thinking about Treasure Planet and all the great folks I got to work with. Eric Daniels who supervised the CG animation of Long John Silver was so mellow and cool. Big time Groo The Wanderer fan like me. When I showed him the test I was doing at the time he went bananas and convinced me to show it to Sergio Aragones. That’s a whole other story though.

SERGIO PABLOS THE MAD SPANIARD!

Then there was Sergio Pablos The Supervising Animator on Dr. Doppler the dog man. In my honest opinion that chain smoking Spaniard is the Baddest ass Traditional Animator of my generation. The amount of care and precision that he would put into his animation was beyond reproach. Beautifully drawn, appealing and full of character.

T.Dan Hofstedt the most talented and nicest viking I ever met.

T.Dan Hofstedt, This is a cool dude. Imagine a big mustached viking in a Hawaiian shirt!

He looked like a Viking but was all laid back like a Hawaiian. In fact that’s where T. Dan was from! Plus he does Vocals and plays both slack-key and lead guitar in a Hawaiian Jazz band called Oahu! How rad is that Bruh?! There were many others, far too many to mention here, but I’ll say this, they were ALL wonderful people with gobs of talent and skill I feel very fortunate to have been there.

See?! A hoola viking!

Check out his Facebook Pic! Friggin’ Awesome!

What a Talent! Give it up for T'Dan everyone!

There were many others , far too many to mention here, but I’ll say this, they were ALL wonderful people with gobs of talent and skill. We worked many long hours together and for the most part spent more time with each other than with our families.

Long Ago,in a time when animation was hand-drawn as well as heartfelt.

I remember fondly. Yes I believe it was spring 2002. Back when I was working on Treasure Planet with my mentor Glen Keane. Glen and I had to work over the weekend and finish this massive Long John Silver scene where Silver and Jim Hawkins meet for the first time and quickly try sizing each other up. Silver is trying to do a few things. He wants to show off to the kid by putting on some bad ass cooking skills. But at the same time a warning about how dangerous that cybernetic arm can be as well as how masterfully he controls it. Very subtle but effective display of power.

Glen and Treasure Planet Directors John Musker and Ron Clemments gave were cool enough to give me the props in the scene to handle on my own! The veggies, eggs, and space shrimp were animated by yours truly! It may not seem like much, but to me it was my first time “animating” not following up on a production scene. To a young punk who didn’t go to CalArts this was epic. Despite the poker face and professionalism I displayed, I practically wet my pants when they told me I could do it!

Glen needed to key out the last few feet and I needed to finish the keys, draw the breakdowns and inbetweens, not to mention have it shot and ready for the directors Ron Clemments and John Musker first thing Monday morning. I stayed until 3 am that Friday night before just to have enough work set up for me to come in and spend Saturday and Sunday tying it down.

A first pass animation rough key by Glen Keane. Check out the note Glen LEft me. Now that's trust folks!

This is a rough of a key pose that I did on the scene for Glen

When I came in on Saturday I brought Glen some King Taco carne asada tacos and a six pack of Modelo beer. He never had the pleasure of Los Angeles’ best tacos and was really grateful! Plus the three cervezas really hit the spot! It was nice to sit for minute and relax with my old Jefe!

Modelo Especial The official Beer of Man Vs. Art!

Carne Asada Tacos from King Taco. With Modelo beer is the offical meal of Man Vs. Art.

We went back to work and a few hours later Glen was ready to leave. He told me how important it was for me to finish on time and knew I wouldn’t fail.

Come Monday morning that scene was inbetweened, exposed, and shot ready for the Directors to approve it.

When you have a guy like Glen Keane as your mentor and boss, you don’t let him down. And I never did!

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How to Draw a pin-up girl the Man Vs. Art Way.

Raul — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:42:04 +0000

Okay kids, here is a quick demo of myself drawing a pin-up girl using Autodesk Sketchbook pro and a wacom tablet. I lost my voice in a Mariachi singing competition so there’s no narration but you’ll be able to follow it I’m sure.

Pretty Girl by Raul aguirre Jr.

Remember when drawing pretty girls less lines and graceful curves are key. This will be the first in a series that I hope you enjoy!

Until next time!

Have an Artful day!

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Man Vs. Art TV Interview, Animation Festival and How to handle distractions and interruptions when you make art the Man vs. Art way!

Raul — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:00:23 +0000

Hello everybody!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me, and I’d like to share the highlights with you all.

Inside Studio Raul

I was recently interviewed by Ben McCain and Richard Mcmanus for a feature on Time Warner Cable’s channel 101 CNN. They came over spent the afternoon in my studio and asked me all sorts of great questions. They also took time to talk to my wife and my biggest fans the Salgado Brothers! The 21st century’s answer to the “Sweathogs” I’ve never had that many people in my studio and let me tell you it was quite fun and exciting to say the least. I was a little nervous but Ben is really intuitive and right away put me at ease with some rely insightful questions about my work.

Here is the video Richard edited and put on youtube in case you don’t catch it on Time Warner CAble.

Inside Studio Raul

Also I screened some of my animation in The Edge Of L.A. Comic-Con Animation Fest at the Claremont Packing house 532 W. 1st street Claremeont CA 91711. My friend and fellow artist Jim Lujan put it together with Chris Peterson who runs the Packing House. They did a great job.

Jim Lujan and Graciala Rodriguez listen as Raul Aguirre Jr. extols the virtues of the lap band.

We had a full house of people hungry to see new animation and boy did they get it!

This little girl was brutally honest.

Hortencia and Raul Aguirre at the Edge of LA animation Festival

Jim is a great and SUPER talented guy who cranks out cartoons faster than a Korean Sweatshop! His cartoons a brilliantly crude and really take on life. Looking at Jim Lujan’s cartoons is like looking at the world through a cracked lens. They speak volumes about the insecurity and weakness we all have. How we give such importance to ourselves that we are blind to real world around us. Delusion yes that’s what it is. Disney Animation has been known as “The Illusion of Life.” Well Jim Lujan Animation is “The Delusion of Life.” sometimes dark, but always funny. Jim has caricatured Life in Los Angeles by exagerrating things others miss! This is unique solid cliche free stuff people and I highly recommend you check Jim’s youtube channel out and prepare to laugh your ass off!

Prolific animator Jim Lujan and catatonic animator Raul Aguirre Jr.

Graciela Rodriguez a fellow Cartoonista and friend showed some incredibly clever and hilarious cartoons! She has a very unique style and her pacing was spot on! Crazy Granny she don’t like nothing is FRIGGIN’ funny! You can see some of her animation here. and here is her official website.

Russ and Claudia our friends from La Habra that we had to go to Europe to meet showed up!

Russ and Claudia

My little sis Lily and her man Joe Stoughton crashed the party and enjoyed the show! It was such a good time! Thanks everybody for being so cool and supportive.

Raul, sister Lily and herman Mighty Joe Stoughton!

But most of all I want to thank my wonderful wife Hortencia who gets me the hook-ups. I’m very fortunate to have such a beautiful and supportive wife who is willing to do the bulk of the leg work and networking that is necessary for me to display my work. I don’t even worry when Hortencia is on the case. Besides being beautiful, she’s smart , creative, and gets things done. Thanks to her help I get to maximize my time creating! Did I mention how beautiful she is?

Today I wanted to talk about how artists should handle interruptions and other annoyances when working. Internet, cell phones, TV, the crappy death metal band next door, Jehovah ‘s witnesses, and jealous talking T-shirts are all things that can throw you off when you are trying to create your latest masterpiece. The distractions are everywhere and its a wonder we ever get anything done. I happen to be a pretty mellow and zen guy who takes stuff in stride when things go cuckoo. (Yeah Right!)

Check out the situation I just went through.

While I was recording the podcast for this episode my assistant the talking Che Guevara T- shirt snapped.

He has been acting really weird lately. Weirder than usual. I think the cheese finally fell off of his cracker.

Enjoy the drama!

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Man vs Art is Publicly Hung! Get the inside scoop on his most recent paintings! Plus! Why self deprecating artists are complete dorks and should be pimp slapped!

Raul — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:45:50 +0000

That’s right. On August 8th I unveiled 3 brand new paintings of Casita Del Pueblo’s Annual Summer Collective Art Show in their wonderful Uptown Whittier Gallery. The theme was “Celebration of Music through the times.”

And there you have it kids. The Mona Lisa in 32 seconds...now you try it!

I was doing a lecture at the Whittier Library along with Jim Lujan and Javier Hernandez who had set it up. We were talking to kids about drawing and the many ways it can enrich your lives. During which a young lady in the audience mentioned how impressed she was with my work. It turns out she is related to Casita Del Pueblo Gallery owner Yolanda García. My wife Hortencia met up with Yolanda, showed her my portfolio and I was in!

Self inflicted picture. Not bad if I do say so myself.

I’m very fortunate to have such a beautiful and supportive wife who is willing to do the bulk of the leg work and networking that is necessary for me “get my work out there”. She loves my paintings, drawings, and sketches so much that she squirrels all of them away.

Erika Cabrera from Casitia del Pueblo and my wife Ortie taking in the art.

Ortie displays the pieces of her choosing in our home and for the longest time never wanted to sell any of it. She organizes and stores it meticulously. Better than I would! I call her Madame Curator. Though she has found it difficult to part with any of my work, ever since the electroshock therapy and Thorazine treatments she has recently shown signs of improvement. She gave my nephew a post it note that I had doodled a dragon on.

I don’t even worry when Ortie is on the case. Besides being stunningly beautiful, she’s smart, fun, creative, and is the kind of girl that gets things done. Plus she is a dynamite cook and quite the fashionista. I love a lady that enjoys getting dolled up. These days walking in heels is a lost art. Not for my lady.

Thanks to her incredible devotion and support, I get to maximize my time creating! Did I mention how beautiful she is?

Can she light up a room with her smile or what folks?

So here are the three paintings I entered into the show.

The traditional Mexican serenade or serenata.

“Serenata Pa’ mi Chatita.”
(Serenade for my small nosed girl.)
Acrylic on 12X16 canvas board
(A chatita is Mexican slang for a girl with a small or snub nose, always used as an affectionate nickname.)

Pedro Infante sings and makes the ladies swoon.

“Cien Años”
Acrylic on 12X16 canvas board.
a portrait of the legendary Mexican singer and actor Pedro Infante. His song “Cien Años” is considered to be one of the if not the most romantic and beautiful songs ever made.

Eydie Gormay and Los Panchos

“Sabor a Mi.”
Acrylic on 16X20 Stretched Canvas.
In the early sixties Eydie Gormé teamed up with the Mexican Trio Los Panchos and recorded the album, Amor in Spanish. “Sabor a mi” which literally translates to “The taste of me” is one of the signature songs. It is a message to an ex lover saying no matter how far away you are or how much time passes you will always carry “The taste of me” on your lips.

They are currently for sale and on display at Casita del Pueblo 6738 Greenleaf Avenue Whittier CA.

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Ten Minute warm up drawing Demo 1

Raul — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:28:03 +0000

Okay so you’re with me this far.

That’s good. It means you are serious about becoming a better artist.

Well here is your chance.

This is the first in a series of exercises for you to do. I dug into the old tome “10,001 ideas for silly drawings” and found this gem.

Draw Frankenstein’s creature and the Wolf man playing one on one basketball.

Here’s mine. I did it with Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and my Wacom Tablet on a PC.

So grab your favorite pencil or pen and a sheet of paper from your printer and draw your version of the prompt in under ten minutes.

Draw smarter not harder! That’s the way a pro does it!

When you are done, email me a copy or post it on Flickr and send me the link. I’ll then post it on Man vs. Art to chart your progress. I’ll answer any questions you may have. Then every month or two I’ll pick the artist who has made the most progress and he or she will win a killer drawing of themselves drawn by me. Here is a sample of portraits I have done.

Thanks for dropping by. Keep those pencils and brains sharp!

And most of all have and artful day!

Raul

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How to improve your drawing skills in only 10 minutes a day with the Man vs. Art method.

Raul — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:29:26 +0000

Hello Everybody.

Welcome to another episode of Man vs Art.
On today’s show I am going present a little drawing exercise my eccentric 7th grade Art teacher Mrs. Smith used to work into the beginning of each class. With this simple 10 minute exercise 4 times a week I guarantee your drawing skills will improve.

Lookin' totally rad in 1985

The year was 1985,

My collar was flipped up on my alligator shirt,

the sleeves rolled up on my members only jacket,

and my pants were cuffed tighter than a Cholo who fit the profile.

Mrs. Smith had a plaque on the wall with the words “ten minute drawing“ engraved across it. Every day she attached an index card with a humorous prompt directly below the plaque.

One day it was “Draw a chicken arm wrestling a duck in an old west saloon.”

The next day “Draw a hippo blowing out the candles on his birthday cake aboard a UFO.” and so on.

Fun and imaginative situations the kind you see in kids books.

Everybody in the class groaned about having to do a stupid drawing, everybody that is except me. This was the only part of school that didn’t bore me. I friggin’ LOVED it.

This ten minute drawing did two things.

It loosened and warmed up my drawing arm. Which translated to smooth and flowing drawings. A good drawing is rarely rigid and labored.
It also got my creative juices flowing so to speak. When I began my “real” drawing there was no lag time. My brain was already in full creative mode. It was go time!

For an Artist, having your hand warmed up and in sync with your brain greatly improves the odds of your next drawing being good if not awesome. It made me feel confident and prepared for whatever wacky assignment Mrs. Smith had cooked up for class that day.

I have devised a simple yet effective drawing regimen consisting of a series 10 minute sessions at least 4times a week . The goal being to quickly translate themes of varying complexity into a clear drawing. This is an extremely valuable exercise that doesn’t require a lot of time or fancy gear. Just your favorite pen or pencil, any paper you want and the desire to draw better.

It might not be a bad idea to get a sketchbook, and do all of the warm up drawings in there. That will certainly help keep you organized and you’ll be able to chart your progress.

I suggest a moleskin sketchbook. They are by far the best in terms of quality and their coolness factor is beyond epic.

I am going to make the 10 minute drawing a regular feature on Man Vs. Art. because I need to practice with my Wacom tablet.
Years ago while rummaging in my grandparent’s attic I found an old leather bound book with gilded pages. On the cover in golden script it said “Ten thousand and one silly drawing ideas.” I am going to take one idea every few days and post it for everyone to try. Along with it I will post a video demo of myself drawing out the prompt with my Wacom tablet.

Everyone is encouraged to participate. The only rule is that you limit yourself to no more than ten minutes. Doing this will condition you to make quick decisions and draw smarter not harder! The way a pro does it!

PArt 2 of the 10 minute drawing series, the video demo will be following this post.

Thanks for dropping by. Mi studio es tu studio.

have and artful day!

Raul

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How can a little luck make a big difference in your art?

Raul — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:00:57 +0000

This will be the first of many posts I make about the trip my wife and I took to Europe in the summer of 2005. I did A LOT of sketching through the entire trip and learned quite a few things about art and about myself. Today I want to present this little pen and ink sketch I did of Le Arc De Triomphe in Paris.







Man Vs. Art and wife visit Le Arc De Triomphe




I agreed to an ENTIRE morning of non stop shopping up and down the Champs-Elyséeswith my wife Hortencia (I call her Ortie for short) on one condition. I got to choose where we had lunch.
 Ortie in her natural element doing what she does best.  Shopping.
In true geek form I wanted to pay homage to Pulp Fiction by having a " Royale with cheese" at the local McDonalds down the block.
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You know that little voice we all have in our heads that warns us when something is a bad idea?  Yeah well at that moment mine was out taking a whizz. Eating at Mcdonald's was a decision that I would soon regret. The fool that I was.
We left Mickey D's and continued down the Champs-Elysées. Ortie stopped to admire a some shoes on display in Boutique's window.  All of a sudden I doubled over in McPain with a horrible McCramp in my McStomach followed by an uncontrollable urge to McHurl.
The French consider Americans to be uncultured boors. They don't really like us.  And here I am on the verge of committing what the French call a  Faux Pas, a social blunder.   I was about to  "Tarantino" my Royale with cheese all over the sidewalk."  I was definitely not "Lovin' it."  I made a beeline for the nearest trash can and braced for the imminent onslaught.  Then just as quickly  as it came, the gut wrenching  pain was gone. The royale with cheese had decided to stay put.
I pulled my head out of the trash can and there before me was the perfect view of Le Arc De Triomphe in all its monumental glory. Perfectly framed, complete with a strong light source and no obstructions.
It was perfect! Perfect I tells ya!
The entire morning I had stared at Le Arc de Triomphe with the desire to draw it. I just couldn't find a decent spot to plop down and do it. Now I had this perfect spot to draw from! As an added bonus there was an empty bench right in front of me! Joy!
It was go time!
Half an hour to 45 minutes later I had executed this sketch using pen and ink with  a little wash.
Not bad but it was missing what the french call Je ne sais quoi.
It was okay, but I felt strongly that it needed figure or two in the foreground.  Of the dozens of people that walked by me not a single one felt right. I wanted to put someone cool in my drawing.An esteemed representative of Paris you know? Like a wealthy Parisian Dowager walking her poodle,

Hey Frenchie!
Or a scraggly Jean Reno guy leaning on the street lamp and lighting up a smoke.

 I don't think he's Janet's brother though.
Isn't Paris supposed to be the friggin' city of romance for crying out loud?!  Well, c'mon Paris do your thing!
It was getting late and we had a tight schedule to stick to. But the blasted drawing felt incomplete. I was disappointed and frustrated to say the least.  I sighed and  muttered as I gathered up my things to leave. That's when the miracle happened.
A big white limousine pulled up. Then a really short French guy in a tweed jacket holding a big camera oompa loompaed his way out of the limo. He looked very stressed and the whole time was chattering a non stop stream of French gibberish (to moi) in that comical "short guy" voice.  I considered but quickly dismissed the idea of drawing him.  The French ambassador of the lollipop guild just didn't fit in with what I wanted. I could have gone for the obvious Napoleon joke with mini me and Le Arc, but that's too easy.  Only posers and hacks go for the easy joke.
Then, just like movie stars arriving to a red carpet event a young Asian newlywed couple stepped out of the limo and right into the empty spot in front of me. I swear this is true!
The groom looked totally GQ in his Tux. And the Bride?  Sweet Tonata!  Can you say princess?  Mr. Frodo was snapping pictures like crazy and I realized they were having their wedding portrait taken with Le Arc De Triomphe as the backdrop.  I remember thinking what a cool idea it was.
I couldn't believe what was happening.  It almost felt like I had willed them to into existence!  I know it sounds silly, but as an artist, feelings like this are very empowering and totally conducive to kicking the quality of your work up a notch!  With  renewed vigor I grabbed my pen and sketched the newlyweds  while Harve Villaichez photographed them.
This is how the final sketch turned out.
The wedding Couple was exactly what I needed in  my drawing.  They tied everything together nicely.
Folks, I ask you, isn't that the sappiest, most romantic cornball thing ever?  I couldn't have asked for a better subject.  That was  certainly a special moment I captured with my pen and I feel very fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time.   I was the second happiest guy in the whole world. The first happiest guy in the world was of course the groom who was grinning from ear to ear the whole time!
It all happened so fast!  I wanted  to thank them for giving me my  "magical Paris moment",  But by the time I looked up they were leaving.  I watched  the Limo slowly pull away from the curb and then disappear into the afternoon Paris traffic forever.
I put my arm around my wife and we walked back to our hotel.
Maybe someday the Asian couple  might find this blog or podcast.  I'm sure they would love to hear this story as well as see the drawing. Heck I'd give it to them.  I'd tell them to consider it a wedding gift.  Hey.  I just realized Art is the gift that keeps on giving!  Ha!
This taught me a valuable lesson.  Whether it be good or bad a little luck can make or break a work of art.  A poser will always fail to take advantage of  things like luck, because he fails to act in time.  He spends his time reacting.  By then it's too late.  It's what makes  poser work look lifeless and contrived.  In order to properly draw what you see, you need to learn how to "see" first.
A great artist is aware of his surroundings and is always ready to adapt to any sudden change in circumstances. Part of Art's appeal, at least to me is spontaneity.
On that day in Paris years ago Man had accepted Art's challenge, and Man won!

But only with luck.
Thank you Paris France for giving me such a memorable experience.

I hope to come back real soon
Now where is my  wine and cheese.
Shameless Plugs!
This Saturday August 8th from 3 to 9 pm I will be exhibiting some new paintings   at the  Casita Del Pueblo Gallery at

6738 Greenleaf Ave  in the city of Whittier California.

I am extending a  VIP invitation to all of my readers and  listeners.  There will be food drinks and plenty of art! So come by and say Hi!
FREE ANIMATION FESTIVAL!
Also my good friend and fellow artist Jim Lujan has put together The Edge Of L.A. Comic-Con Animation Fest on Saturday August 15th.  at the Claremont Packing house 532  W. 1st street Claremeont CA 91711.
Bring the kids!  Admission is Free so be sure to tell the guy that you are a friend of  Man vs. Art and get 1/2 off the price of admission
Following the screenings there will be a Q and A discussion with the creators! So animation students are encouraged to check it out!
You can see more of my work at my official website www.studioraul.com,
Thanks again for joining me and I hope  you have an artful day!
Man Vs Art copyright 2009 Raul Aguirre Jr.
MAN VS. ART PODCAST

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