2008 WAS GREAT, 2009...DAMN YOU LOOK FINE

Happy new years people.
Coincidentally, its also my Blogday! I started this blog exactly 2 years ago while cooped up in my pasty-walled dorm room on a hot and humid day in Savannah Georgia.

2008 has been pretty good to me. I've been very fortunate thus far in my young career to have an opportunity to work with some incredible people, and I want to send a big "thanks" to each and every one of you. So now we part ways 2008, but I will never forget you.

2009, I look forward to what you have to offer. If you're anything like your younger brother, I can't wait to hang out with you. Hopefully soon you'll all get a chance to see "The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan" a short I've been working on for the past 6 months with my good friend Joey Giardina at Cartoon Network.
Above is a little sneak peak at the awesome chronicles.

Below; some doodles i've drawn over the last couple weeks. I was blog browsing back in 2008 and came across someone's fan pokemon they created (I can't find the link anymore), but they were really great and creative and inspiring, so I thought I'd give it a go and try to create my own pokemon.




I'm not sure if they look like 'pokemon' or if they look like me trying to do pokemon?









This last page is my favorite I think.

On a side note, in the most recent issue of Animation Magazine, they spotlighted "a day in the life of Craig McCracken" (very well deserved). And if you look closely at the spread, you might just see a familiar face... or hat.

Below: At 3:15, that's me. In my conductor cap. Choo Choo.

And fittingly enough, the article is on page 72, my number.

2009, I know we've only just met, but I think I love you.

DOODLE DEECE

Random doodles and some board panels for my mom.

A VERY AVERY POST

Been studying Avery shorts. Some quick sketches I did of the 'Hitler' Wolf in "Blitz Wolf".

THE AWESOME CHRONICLES; PART II

A first glimpse into "The Awesome Chronicles of Manny & Khan"
We were lucky enough to have an incredibly talented artist, DanBob Thompson, come in and tie down our characters for us. These are two of his drawings. He really helped establish the style of the show and truly captured the essence of Manny & Khan. Dan also colored the characters for us as a temporary measure, and I hated Manny's color the first time I saw it. But it grew on me more and more every single time I looked at it, so much so that these are probably going to be close to final color.
Below is a background drawn by "Dream-Boat" Chris Tsiriotis. He did an unbelievable job carving out the forest for us. I can't wait for people to see the world he created.

We've been crazy busy at Cartoon Network getting everything ready to be shipped over-seas for animation. Hopefully they'll navigate their way through this production pipeline and become a Big Star product.

HUNGRY FOR CHANGE

The most important project I've ever been involved with;



I helped out a buddy of mine with his submission for google's 10^100 Project. I worked 3 days straight on the animation in order to get it done before the deadline, and I'm pretty proud of myself for how it came out considering the amount of time I had (although there are things I want to change). I don't even think I ate for those 3 days...maybe that's why it works?

Link to the posting on Youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCQPLnXFE-4

DREAMWORKS BOARD TEST

Board test for DreamWorks I did a few months back:
The set up was; Gingy and Pinocchio try to escape the evil god-mother's potion factory, when Pinocchio spots her 'Potion Room' and wants to find a potion that'll turn him into a real boy. (Or something like that)

THE AWESOME CHRONICLES; PART 1

Wow haven't posted in for-ages. I've been crazy busy at Cartoon Network working on my short with Joey. It's going real well and hopefully I'll be able to post some artwork soon. We've been really fortunate with 'Manny and Khan' to be able to work with some incredibly talented people, all of whom have helped plus the short in their own unique ways. Most recently, we had the opportunity to work with two incredible voice actors; the hilarious Keith Ferguson of Foster's Home fame (Bloo), and the brilliant Adam Paul, an untapped goldmine of voice acting goodness who has a masters degree in acting.

Above: Keith,Joey,Me,Adam (he has a masters degree in acting).
Above: Joey and Keith eating?
Above: Our awesome voice director Kris Zimmerman. (She gets a thumbs up!)

Both Keith and Adam came in and breathed new life into the project. They really added a lot to the characters and re-energized the entire production. Can't wait for people to hear their performances. Oh yeah, and did I mention Adam has his Masters in acting!

Below: Random doodles.





I'll try and post more stuff soon. Stay tooned.

CAMP JOHNNY

GETTING PAID TO MAKE FUNNY DRAWINGS

I was fortunate enough recently to have Cartoon Network give me and my good buddy Joey Giardina the greenlight to make our own short for them. The guys over there have been incredible from day one, and I'm honored to be able to continue my career with them. The short is going to be a 7 minute pilot for what was once 'Big Foot and Gnome' and now tentativley titled 'Manny and Khan'.

I also just put the finishing touches on a freelance animated short I'd been working on for the past month, I'll post that real soon.

HOLY CRAP I'M ON YOUTUBE!

So somebody just emailed me a link to an animation I did back in High School for my senior project. This is both really awesome and embarrassing at the same time. I'm stoked that someone would actually take the time to put this up, I don't even know who it is, but thanks; You've made my week!
Embarrassing however because it's really shitty. I made this 3 years ago, in about the span of 1 month, and (despite the crap-fest it is) I'm actually pretty proud of it. I got to make fun of a whole bunch of people from my high school, they were all cool with it... i think. I got a lot of them to actually do their own voices.



Fun Fact; While imitating a scene from my animation, some kid actually pulled one of the showers in the science lab, flooding the classroom. So I guess cartoons really do have a bad influence on kids.

COMIC-CON PANEL: THE AFTERMATH!!!

Hey, so thanks to everyone who came out to the 'Intern' panel at comic-con this past weekend, especially those who came prepared with an arsenal of questions? You guys really fired us up and made the panel worthwhile. Hopefully you were able to pick up something insightful in between our ramblings. We got a really good response and great feedback so perhaps you can look forward to a sequel.

Here's a little video for those of you who weren't able to make it, or for those of you who were able to make it but slept through this part;



Mike Collins works on Foster's Home right now doing character clean-up. He's a great guy and an awesome artist. Check out his blog; http://creativeaces.blogspot.com/

Also, if you haven't already, check out Ben Balistreri's new book "Seaweed". The book is amazing, I guarantee you get tangled in "Seaweed's breathtaking artwork.

Peace out from the Con-08

COMIC-CON PANEL

Hey anybody who's goin to Comic-Con this weekend, I'm gonna be on a panel discussing the 'Do's and Dont's' of interning for a major animation studio.

Friday, July 25

5:30-6:30 Intern Etiquette: The Dos and Don’ts of Interning for Animation— Josh Lieberman (Dreamwork’s How to Train Your Dragon), Mike Collins (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends),—Sean Cole (Dreamwork's How to Train Your Dragon), and Alana Bubis (Madagascar) are prepared to discuss all aspect of interning for a major animation studio: how to secure an internship, the dos and don'ts, and ultimately how to turn them into work. Room 30CDE
Categories: Animation | Anime & Manga | Seminars & Workshops

If you're around come visit, we'll be answering questions and talking about our experiences.

Stop by and say hi.

DARE DOG RE-INVENTED

I was recently rummaging through the dusty folders in my digital attic when I came across a file, a novel I wrote when I was 13 called "Dare Dog". It's the story of a group of animals who are turned into super heroes (via some sort of radio-active awesome laser) to protect the world from invading aliens...
I like the characters a lot so figured I'd take a stab, 8 years later, at re-drawing them. Hopefully they're not as crudely drawn as they were back then.


I did a quick thumbnail line up just to figure out the shapes and size relationships. I didn't quite hit the mark on all of them. I've been really into this project over the last few days so I'll probably do some more drawings. Here's the thumbnail line-up for reference;

Below is the first pass I did of the Buck character.

Some rough Dare Dog doodles. I'm not entirely happy with his design yet, I want him to be more unique;


This is the original design, I did this in Microsoft Paint when I was 14 or 15.

An excerpt from the novel Dare Dog:
"Dare Dog woke up and found himself in the middle of a forest, (unaware he was inside the dome). He looked around and saw a river. In thirst, he went over to get a drink. The water was raging, and he saw what seemed to be a giant rock, fly by his face being pulled down the river by the current. When it passed by his face he realized that it’s an animal. He dove into the river to save him.
“Hold on, I’m coming,” he yelled. He caught up with the large animal, and jumped on it’s back. He tried to pull it out of the water. As soon as he made contact, the large animal jumped up and grabbed Dare Dog. Being held out of the water, Dare Dog looked up looked up, and saw a huge bear, staring at him. The large animal stared at Dare Dog and growled.
“Hi,” Dare Dog said.
“You’re not a fish,” the bear said as he placed Dare Dog back on land, and then he stepped out himself.
“I thought you were drowning, I was trying to save you,” Dare Dog said.
“Actually, I was trying to catch some fish, but oddly I can’t find any anywhere,” the bear replied, “I’m Quake, and you are?”
“Dare Dog, I think?”"

The suspense is killing me!