Mucho Stuff

So Thanksgiving was a blast. Mom visited from El Paso, and we ate like it was going out of style. It was fun to ride Revenge of the Mummy with her too. One of the coolest aspects came when we picked her up at the airport. We noticed a super tall guy in the crowd coming off her plane. Low and behold it was Former San Antonio Spurs superstar The General David Robinson. I figured since I wasn't at Disney working, where it's a no-no to approach celebs, I'd ask him for a picture. Boy was he tall, and very humble. Made me really miss Texas.
I was also able to catch up on some commission work, and I just wrapped up 103 more Heroes cards for Topps. They are coming out soon....I hope. Here are a few of the commissions I sent out.
And of course some of the coolest news, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hits theaters in May! And LFL has released a few promo images. I cannot wait for this flick.
Anyway, that's the news for now.

Enchanted

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Mine was quite pleasant and I'll drop you some more info on it shortly. For now we should give note to a movie I saw on Thanksgiving day. Walt Disney's Enchanted.
There are so many wonderful things about this movie. The most important in my opinion is the return of the hand drawn animation to a feature film. There has been so much computer animation out there, some good, and some really bad. But this movie brings us back to the roots, and does it well. Another thing Disney movies seem to be lacking is music. Alan Menken, one of the musical geniuses behind The Little Mermaid and a host of other Disney classics returns with pizzaz! As I left the theater humming the tunes, and still have them stuck in my head.
Of course there is comedy and Amy Adams does a great job as Princess Giselle.
I have always been somewhat of a romantic and this is one of those fairy tale movies that re-established that hope for magic in me.
Below is a clip of one of the movies musical numbers. It like a live action version of "Be Our Guest" and "Under the Sea"
Check this out!

Work work work

I'll be drowning in sketch cards for the next 30 days or so. Topps asked me to add 103 more HEROES Sketch cards to my bunch bringing me to a total of 350+ cards. On top of that the news of a third visit to Middle Earth working on 206 Sketch cards for the upcoming Lord of the Rings Masterpieces 2 set.
So needless to say my fingers will be getting a workout.
Now I'm just crossing my fingers on a third project that would be an absolute Holy Grail of projects for me to work on. It's all in Lucasfilm LTD hands now.

Arrgh

You know I look around at my place and find more and more little colored treasure maps all over the walls and floors. And it reminds me of this piece I drew a few weeks ago. Kids are funny, and this little pirate in training decided to make a treasure map complete with crayons on mom's wall.

Super Soap Weekend brings me back from the dead

Okay well I have been hiding for a while due to somewhat of an embarassing fiasco, but life seems to be back on track. I got to work a gig last night which brought me back into the swing of things in grand fashion. It was for the closing party at Walt Disney World's Super Soap Weekend. We got to draw several of daytime tv's sexiest people, men and women. I wish I could show you some photos but because of privacy reasons we kept our cameras holstered for the night.
But what a night it was. I got to meet and draw former Playmate turned daytime TV and Dancing with the Stars actress Kelly Monaco. She was quite a doll!
But the highlight of the night came from All My Children and One Life to Live stars Melissa Claire Egan and Tika Sumpter. Not being a watcher of daytime TV I was unaware of them. But they quickly established themselves as TV royalty with their fantastic playful personalities and gorgeous looks. They were two of the most humble, and down to earth actresses I'd ever met. You know the kisses on the cheeks of thanks were just a bonus. It was my pleasure to not only draw them, but to spend ten or 15 minutes getting to know them. They each have a new fan in me.
But it's the gigs like this and the people I get to work with, (it was nice to see my good friends Keelan and Ted again) that remind me why I am a very lucky man.

PS I plan on updating this page everyday this week with more news and art. I have quite a bit of catching up to do!

Rock Bottom

Had a really shitty day, maybe time to rethink a few things. While i think though, here is a little sumthin sumthin.

Heroes Scans

I got an email today from Topps trading cards saying that I was one of the first batch of approved artists on the Heroes set. I did cart wheels in my studio before reading on.
The email also gave me permission to post my scans on the net. Some characters are still awaiting approval so my Sylar cards and a few others, I cannot show. But here are the cards from the first round that I can. Now hopefully my second set will meet with aproval.

Back to work on Commissions

The second set of Heroes cards are off and on their way to Topps and then to Universal for final approval. It's been a tad nerve wracking as some artists have had all their cards rejected by Universal. Still for me, no news is thus far good news.
But now I have a few commissions I need to get back to and send out. Here is one of them that is completed. The Goblin Queen.

More Sketch Card Commissions

The hits keep coming.

Clash of the Titans

So to speak. Buzz Lightyear versus Mr. Incredible. My friend and comic book genius Barry Gregory gave me the idea for this piece. It's the first time in a while that I have sat down and drawn a full 11 by 17 work in a long while. I think it makes for a great story, and this is truly a battle I'd love to see. Who'd win?

Heroes Round2

Well it looks like orders for the Heroes cards are shooting through the roof, so TOPPS has ordered tons of extra sketch cards. Looks like I'll be doing another 100 cards.
Topps also released a preview sheet with twelve cards that Universal has approved. Hooray, mine was one of them. I blew it up here so you could take a better look.

More Sketch Cards Completed

Here are a handful of more commissioned sketch cards.

Dante's Inferno

I'm involved in a huge tournament over at www.digitalwebbing.com. In that tourney (which started with 90 artists), the moderator gives topics, to which we provide illustrations. We are in the final rounds and down to 8 artists. In this round the topic was to draw one of the circles of hell in Dante's Inferno. The specified ring was that of the Gluttons. The description of the piece went as follows...
"I've been reading Dante's Inferno once again, so this round you shall be drawing a scene from the 3rd Circle of the Inferno. So let's see, cerberus guarding the gluttons who are forced to lie in the mud under constant rain and hail."
I think I pulled it off, but I figured, if we were dealing with Gluttons, wouldn't they want to EAT ALL THE TIME? Given that there is no food, I would assume they'd turn to the next best thing. Eating each other.
It's a bit of a twisted piece, but gave room for a lot of creativity, and I really enjoyed working on it.
I'm not one to creep myself out, but this piece did it. Thoughts?

Recent Sketch Card Commissions

Heroes are out of the way, wrapped up and shipped. What a great project that was. I am so jazzed about the new season and the dvd release now more than ever. Can't wait till the set hits stores in October.
Now it's time to wrap up some lingering commissions as well. I have quite the backlog. Here are some cards that went out today.
Okay breaks over, back to work.

R.I.P. Cinderella

SO two year olds are funny. They do the darndest things, and get into the strangest of messes. My Maya is no different. She's on a "play in the toilet" kick.
We close the door, but it does no good, since she reaches the door knob. Assuming that she was quietly playing in the play room was dumb on our part, and the other day we found her playing with several of her little tub toy Disney Princesses in the potty. We pulled them all out, gave her a stern what for, and that was that. Until my wife tried to clean the toilet, and it wouldn't flush. I quickly took inventory and realized that Snow White and Cinderella had gone missing.
Reluctantly I plunged my arm into the toilet and found the ass end of one of them blocking the drain. After some manuvering with a screw driver, I managed to free Snow White.
But the toilet still would not flush all the way.
So I took the screw driver and found that Cinderella was jammed way in to deep, but would not budge.
Eventually I managed to snake her deeper into the drain, but only had a slow flush come out of it.
Early the next morning I was at Home Depot buying a Plumbing Snake. And to make this long story short, was able to push Cinderella all the way through and into the sewer system below.
So did she drown, did she committ suicide, or did I kill her?
Whatever the conclusion you may come to, she's gone. She leaves behind several other tub toy BFF's and a two year old determined to continue to play in the toilet.
In her honor, I'll share this piece I drew several months back. It's, in my opinion a bit "crappy"...(PUN INTENDED)....But here it is nonetheless.

Ready for Business LOCODUCK STUDIOS

Hah. Well there are a few more things that I need to add to it, but alas, my baby is born. For years now I have so wanted a tudio space of my own. After all for the longest time my studio space consisted of my lap.
So when it was time to move, I made sure I found a place where I could set up shop.
Low and behold, we found one.
Here is the Locoduck Studio in all it's rough glory. I'll be spending entirely too much time here I'm sure. So I made sure to leave a space where my girls can hang out as well. And thanks to that amazingly large drawing table (thanks Ted, Kenny, and ESPECIALLY KEELAN), there is enough room for me to draw side by side with my 6 year old.
Now that my domain is in order, it's back to work. On commissions, personal projects, and oh yeah, that HEROES thing.

Back from the dead

So it's been a long tiring month, and I apologize for my blatent lack of posts. But it looks like we are finally getting settled into our new place, and before you know it, I'll have an official studio space to work in. (so excited)
Anyway, a bit of news, looks like I will be working on the upcoming TOPPS TRADING CARD Series HEROES. Not only a bitchin show, but a huge break. I love the NBC series and now I'll be drawing 150 sketch cards.
As soon as I have clearance I'll start showing some samples.
In the meantime, as I mentioned, I'm tired. Be back with more in a few days. Promise.

Chris Benoit

Talk about strange, shocking and depressing all in one. Anyone that knows me, knows I am a big fan of wrestling. And Canadian wrestlers are pretty close to my heart because of my short friendship with Bret Hart.
And I was just like everyone else in the respect line for Chris Benoit. So you can imagine my horror when I stumbled on to the net a few days ago and came across headlines of Good bye Chris, and Benoit dead.
As I read further into the headline I saw that his family was gone too. I wondered immediately had if they'd been in an accident?
But the details that have now emerged have made me sick and sad at the same damn time.
And I ask myself why?
I actually had the chance to meet Chris Benoit and his son out at Disney about two years ago. And He seemed so nice, so calm. They were trying to grab a soda refil in the food court of The Caribbean Beach. Unfortunately for them the building had closed. Fortunately for them, I was a Chris Benout fan, so I let them in, so long as he'd pose for a photo.
Hmm. I have it somewhere, but at this point I'm afraid to look for it.
Me and a murderer side by side. Two very different fathers.
The same goes for this piece I post today.
A part of me thinks I shouldn't have drawn or finished it. But how do you differentiate the talent and career of Chris Benoit, respected wrestler, from Chris Benoit : Killer?
Can you? Do we just forget the accomplishments? And figure it as good riddance to him, and prayers for them?
There seems to be all kind of conspiracy theories abound about what might have gone down. Fingers pointing to the possible "Chris was framed" angle.
I don't know what to ultimately make of it except for this.
Three lives are gone and nothing is going to bring any of them back.

Free Sketch Cards

I know I'm a bit late with this post, I was fortunate enough to be able to have my daddy come down and visit and hang with us for a bit. And given the fact that I hadn't seen him in ages, well, he took priority!
Anyway, you read the headline right, I'm going to start giving away free sketch cards. One per week, sometimes of the winners choosing, sometimes one of mine, and sometimes both!
How do I win sketch card goodness? All you have to do is post comments on my blog! You will recieve one entry for everytime you post a comment on my blog per week.
So basically if I post a new entry, and you comment, you are entered in the drawing. If you comment more throughout the week you'll be entered for those comments as well. The contest will run from Sunday to Sunday, and at the end of the week, I'll draw at random one winner!
Oh and by the way, posting something like "that's cool" over and over on the same piece will not count. Each comment should have some substance and be different. Locoduck will be sitting here right beside me filtering out the junk comments!
This is a short, almost over week, so anyone that comments this week will have their entries carried over to next week.
Good Luck, this contest will go on indefinitely, or until I get tired of giving away free cards! Bleh.
In the meantime, enjoy this image of wicked Captain Jack!

Pan's Labyrinth

There was no doubt that when I first saw the trailer for this movie I was intrigued. But having two little girls makes R Rated movies tough to get to. SO I was elated to grab this at the video store.
Came home, popped it in, and saw SUBTITLES?!! Oh man nothing bums me more than having to read subtitles while watching a movie. To my delight the movie was filmed in Spanish, which I speak with some fluency.
I have to say, it's kept me thinking about it four days after watching. I really get into World War 2 time period movies, and creepy fairy tales and mythology were an added bonus.
I can see why it was R rated, pretty violent and gory. But the little girl who plays Ofelia, the main character was phenomonal.
Overall it was a great flick and it looks like it will definitely be jumping in my collection at some point.
Anyway, enjoy an illustration of the Pale Man, one of the film's creepiest characters.

Be sure to check back here Monday as I begin giving away free artwork....more details then.

Dog Days of Work

I realize it's been a bit since I posted, so I'll give something. This cute little mutt. Yeah occasionally at work I get asked to do caricatures of people's dogs. I always find it a bit challenging because they aren't human faces. And when you toss in the fact that I'm usually working off a cell phone or something, it makes it that much harder to get a decent likeness. Still, I feel like I achieved something with this one. So wala. I share it with thee.

Movie Review Friday

So maybe, just maybe, I'll toss in a movie review or eight from now on for Fridays. ever since I got the Blockbuster Online subscription, I've been living in movie rental bliss. And I see myself more and more wanting to sketch while watching. So my Friday's are going to littered with movie reviews of sorts, accompanied by art from said flicks.
We'll see how long I can keep it up.

Happy Feet. Yeah, didn't make me too happy. I don't understand exactly how this beat CARS for best animated picture. It was a bit overloaded with music and confusing going on's. I didn't like that every penguin looked basically the same, and the stroyline in my opinion, was a bit...well blah. And eventhough the animation was quite good, my kids wouldn't even sit through it.
So yeah, not good for me.

The Pursuit of Happyness. Good stuff. If you're a father you can truly relate. You can't help but feel sorry for the main characters struggling to grab a foothold in life. And dammit if I didn't want to buy one of Will Smith's Bone Marrow Machines myself. Definitely inspiring and touching, and the Fresh Prince and little Willy did a great job. And what a Captain America cameo!

Which brings us to CRANK. Wow what a hokey flick. Action packed and crazy fast. The premise sees a hitman named Chelios injected with a lethal China cocktail. The only way to slow inevitable death is to keep his adrenaline going.
The flick was completely unbelievable, overly violent, and sex driven, (let's hear it for the public dicplay of affection in Chinatown.)
In other words, yeah, I loved it.

To Infinity And Beyond

Here's another piece from quasi-concept to finish. The challenge was to draw Buzz Lightyear in "my" style. So I started with a few sketches here and there. Fleshed out the color scheme. Then put it down to layout, and wala.
I bought a little nothing WACOM to work on my coloring skills, but unfortunately ran out time before I could put it to use on this piece.
But I'm determined to start making magic with it.
By the way. I totally dig ZURG, what a great bad guy.

Screwin Round

I drew Donna Troy at random. She was one of those characters I'd never drawn before so I figured what the hell. I initially did the standard comic style version before fiddling round with a looser more cartoon style.
I inked that one, and decided to throw some quick color on it. Figured it needed some sort of background, and wala.
Kinda cool I guess. Her head's a bit on the large side, but other than that I was fairly pleased. Now one of these days I'll learn how to color well on Photoshop.

BTW, I watched the Departed tonight. Wow. Lots of brain matter flying round. But good nonetheless.

Jungle Queen

So I'm thinking of taking some of the more popular caricature designs at work and drawing them in a more comic book like style. The Jungle Queen is by far one of the most popular. So here we go.

Yawn...Another Caricature.

Didn't want my blog to slip into obscurity, so here is one of my most recent favorites.

Reality TV Junkie.

Okay, so I am addicted. I enjoy the hell out of reality tv shows. But they've become overwhelming, and now it seems I don't want to keep up with any of it anymore. But in all fairness I was digging "GREASE: You're the One That I Want". And I have to admit that I called the winner of the Danny part from the start. Good Old Max Crumm, (sorry Keelan.)

And eventhough I thought he had talent...WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH SANJAYA on American Idol. I found him likeable during the audtion phase, but now...ugh. I feel bad for the kid. I wonder if he realizes what a butt of the joke he's become. I think if I were him, I'd just quit. But I guess it shows that perhaps American Idol, is becoming Green Day's American Idiot. Because that's what the voting public is becoming.

Oh and PS, yeah the drawings are mine. Look what Loco can do with a sketchbook and a few bored minutes.
Hope everyone had a better Easter than I did.

Meet the Robinsons

Okay so I'd seen the previews, and to be honest the movie didn;t seem too appealing to me. Aside from the obvious reference to Tommorrow Land, it didn't say Disney to me.
But yesterday I decided to treat my oldest daughter to a movie after school and I let her choose the flick. I was really trying to persuade her to see TMNT, but alas, those darned 3D glasses were too enchanting for her to pass up.
I, being the duck fan that I am, was delighted to see a 1955 Donald Duck short before the movie in 3D as well.
The movie started a tad slow I must admit, and as it picked up steam, it got confusing to a degree, as most sci-fi cartoons tend to do...IE Treasure Planet.
But once the movie hit cruise control, I fell in love with it. It has a lot of Disney Heart in it, and the characters become quite endearing. You quickly realize that it isn't so much about time travel and sci-fi, as it is about family.
The music is modern and fitting, and damn good. And the CGI that seems to be littering the market, was well suited for this show, as I couldn't envision it anyway else.
Far better than Chicken Little, I walked out of there feeling pretty good, and the Walt Disney quote that wraps it all up, helped scream Disney to me at the end.
Check it out if you can.