Tanuki poses

Ripening Tanuki

I've been all over the place with my Tanuki designs. Initially, I had given him quite a bit of detail, but I wasn't nailing that fox-like appearance that the actual animal has. Then I experimented with simpler shapes, but I always felt that the face didn't have the same appeal that the Kyoto sculptures have. Trying to meet somewhere in the middle always made Tanuki generically cartoony.

I'm really liking this version, as he's the closest to my default drawing style, but I'm concerned that he's too Disney-ish (is that a negative thing?). I feel like his face has the most instant appeal out of any design I've drawn so far.

Bon Voyage, Nok!

I drew this for a friend who is about to spend some time in Singapore. She's a huge Snoopy fan. Come back soon, Nok!

In n' Out Truck Is Coming to Feed Us.

Spotted this poster on the wall in our building earlier this week. It's a dream come true.
What's next? Taco truck from Van Nuys?

Another tanuki

Excuse the lack of inventive posing. I've been playing with different styles/proportions/colors and it's easiest to work out the kinks in a standard, standing pose.

TaNUki, TaNOOki...PoTAYto, PoTAHto

Look what you've done to Chowder!!!

Chowder Checks Serving Size, So Can You.

Back in March, I was contacted by Sixpoint Harness Studios to direct and storyboard a commercial of my favorite show "Chowder" This was part of Cartoon Network's Get Animated campaign. I got on the conference call and they mentioned head bangs, ripped sleeves, sparks, flame, Angus Young, and I was thinking this will be a fun ride.

Here's the credit to the talented peeps at Sixpoint Harness:
Animation: James Krenzke, Mac Whiting, Jaime Velasquez, and Joe Kossuth
Layout: Chris Toms, Angelo Vilar
Background: Gerald de Jesus
After Effects / Editing: Tony Christopherson

Tony figured out how to do the texture thingy so we get the same look from the actual show. I was so excited that we were able to do this entirely in Flash and After Effects. Go Flash!

For fun I posted the animatics so you can see how things turned out from the boards...



...to the final animation.

A Really Long Long Cat Makes A Good Scarf

A must-have fashion item this season.

A Really Long Long Cat

This is Lila and her really long long cat. She found him on the street one night and decided to adopt him. The cat loves eating tuna melt sandwich and taking a long walk on the beach.

I'm allergic to cats but luckily cat drawings don't make me sneeze:)