on respecting the process

i don't write too much on this blog any more, but i do have a small backlog of entries i've never posted; here's one recently rediscovered, written it think, in response to attitudes i felt swelling around me. this isn't so much an essay, as it is a bulletin; an plea for people to get over themselves and to return to the things that they know to be true  :

It's been a while since I've written anything substantial on this blog, so I'm going to talk about something that I can't seem to stop being aware of lately: a lack of RESPECT FOR THE PROCESS. i am tired of whining. THE CHALLENGES ARE THE FUN of this mess called the creative act. THIS IS ABOUT THE EXCITEMENT OF PROGRESS. this is about taking steps forward, and that is good enough--that is all anyone can ask. THIS IS ABOUT THE JOURNEY. this is about recognizing things as they are; this is about being honest with yourself. this is about minding your own business, and getting on with your own business. you are the one responsible for yourself. LET'S GET TO WORK ON PUSHING OURSELVES FARTHER; BECAUSE WE CAN ALWAYS DO BETTER. Let's do that. Here are the simple truths:

everyone has a different process, and processes are always continual.
everyone has a different process, and processes are always continual.
appreciate those who support you.
 
and that's final. let's muck about goddamit, work and live with love and passion on our sleeves; and for goodness's sake, let's get on with it already.

the path is always and will always be fraught.
there will never be a guarantee of success.
gain perspective and learn to accept the good with the bad; come to see truths.
act with courage, honesty, and integrity.

these are things easy to forget. i should read this every day.

Tom Gately's Notes

I'd like to start posting drawings from our weekly gesture drawing class at Pixar. Below are Tom's notes from my sketchpad. Can you guess what he's suggesting in each illustration?

In the sketch above right, Tom is asking me to push things farther, to go all the way in my exaggeration, and while I'm at it, to open a negative space between this guy's back and arm and emphasize the feeling of release that comes with bending backward.

In the bottom sketch, Tom reminds me that there is a relationship between things in space that should be emphasized, that I shouldn't flatten things out too much. He also suggests that the figure might lean forward in concert with his attention.

In this last sketch, on the right, Tom's suggestion is that I throw the figure off balance and place the figure in motion; to make her active. We interpreted the pose differently, but whichever way she leans, my job is to make the pose play.

rough and tumble

some roughs for my totoro piece; style exploration via adrienne adams, peter mccarty, the new yorker, sempe, the princess and the frog and the great marc simont. have a good weekend!

m & n

i was surprised and delighted this afternoon to meet a fellow who'd purchased one of my paintings at a Maverix art auction last year. it was one of a pair: the first, a painting of naia who works at a coffee shop i frequent, the second, a fictional gentleman.

naia, i had hoped would be accepted for a group show at the society of illustrators in new york-- but it was not to be. now this little painting is cared for by a friend from work; she has a good home.

The Totoro Forest Project

Recently I was invited to contribute to the Totoro Forest Project, an auction of artwork by international animation, comic and illustration artists in service of saving Sayama Forest outside of Tokyo--the one that inspired Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro.

The event will be held at Pixar on September 6th, and a selection of the artwork will be displayed at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco; a catalogue will also eventually be available. The whole thing is headed by some of my good friends at the studio, so a round of applause for Dice Tsutsumi, Enrico Casarosa, Ronnie Del Carmen and Yuniko Pang. It's a great honor and pleasure to be involved, and I hope we manage to raise a lot!





My piece, about a moment of person-plant communion, was kind of an homage to Helen Levitt and Marc Simont--and of course to New York city: a place with a lot of concrete and a lot of green. It's based on a little plant I saw bowing out of an apartment window in NY; a little cactus, I think. This one's for that cactus.

third

reverend ike
k&m bar williamsburg
m. shing barber shop
kickerbocker village