Monday, October 6, 2014

Going with the flow.....

Hi!

It's amazing what one can achieve by just letting your hand slide on the paper instead of overthinking. After a very frustrating afternoon, I sat in front of the computer and starting to doodle characters and this is what I came up with. Simpler lines and shapes that ended up making very appealing characters. 

I have to give credit to Stephen Silver for I read some of his tutorials before I started to draw... As you can see, it helped quite a lot :)

Cheers


Friday, August 1, 2014

Who Let The Dogs Out?...

I did!!!

After nearly 30 years I decided to put together a little video of the new designs for my Comic Strip "Dog's Life". They might change slightly but I kept the personalities and tried to remain true to the original designs. However, this being about dogs, I thought it would be better to have 5 dogs instead of mixed animals. I decided to get rid of the Panda and the Snake and make them secondary characters instead of main ones.  But I added 2 more characters, A scared, paranoid sheep dog and a Chihuahua with a lot of attitude that I think will bring a lot of laughs to the stories. The names were also changed to make it more interesting keeping "Stik" for it was the name of the original strip. 

I still have a few secondary characters to redesign and I will put it up as we go. Keep tuned and soon I will post my "first" comic strip of Dog's Life.

Cheers


from 1986 to 2014

Friday, July 25, 2014

My life as a dog.....

Hey guys!

Many many years ago, when I was just a lad, I use to draw a comic strip called "Dog's Life" which I hope to be a hit like Garfield or Peanuts. I worked on several strips and one day in 1986 when I was only 18 I decided to take a chance and try to publish my comic. At one publishing house they told me "You know, your drawings look a lot like animation drawings" because I did construction and tried to get it as solid as possible. So the guy gave me an address of a small animation company who was doing a pilot for Hanna Barbera. That's how I fell into animation. I put that comic strip aside and embarked into the animation industry and like they say, the rest is history.

But I never forgot about that comic strip which I always considered my first love. At one point after Fox closed in 2000 I went to the Arizona Republic Newspaper and although they liked it, they said I had to be syndicated. Animation worked started coming in again and onto the shelf went my comic strip. 

But now, after 30 years since I created Dog's Life, I decided to resurrected it and work on it again, but now I have more experience, I can draw way better and I have the technology to do it faster. 


Original drawing redesigned in 1986 


Now, Stik is the main character and I made sure to give each one a strong personality and a background and that make easier to create the comic strips.  I will probably change a couple of the names but I will redesign the characters keeping close to the essence of the original designs. They are copyrighted and I have all the original strips I did and  hopefully I can still get syndication and publish them or maybe someone will see the potential of a TV series (I can dream, can't I?)

So stay tuned and I will keep you guys updated.

Cheers


"It's a Dog's Life and it's a great one!"

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Sketchy Life....

Hey guys!


Just an update on my Sketch Reel. It gives you a glimpse of what I have been doing the past 20 years or so. I added more drawings and updated the music which is Disney's "Bare Necessities" Jazz instrumental. A great version of a wonderful song.

          

Saturday, May 31, 2014

LOVE....just.....Love...

Hi!

Today is a very very special day. Today my parents celebrate 50 years of marriage and they seem to be in love as much as they were the first time they met.

In 1963 my mom was working for a very famous fashion designer in Brazil and my father was showed up one day and saw this beautiful woman and the rest is history. It took less than a year for them to move in together and a year later they were married. My sister was born in 1965 and 3 years after that I was blessed to be part of the family... 


We didn't have a lot of money growing up but I never felt like we didn't have enough. My mom stayed at home taking care of me and my sister and my dad worked a lot to put food on the table. We had breakfast together every day and dinner together every night and despite of the ups and downs, I had a wonderful childhood.


One of the things I remember well is that they always kissed before my dad left to work and when he came home, and wherever they went out for a walk, they were always holding hands. We could see the love they have for one another and that really made a difference to us as little kids....

My parents are the greatest parents anyone could have wished for. I'm sure they had many disagreements but I don't remember them fighting or yelling at each other. They have so much respect for each other and one of the reasons I think is because they knew their role in the marriage and tried to do the best to make sure the other was happy. 

 I wished I was as good of a parent and spouse as my mom and dad, and I don't know why God gave such wonderful parents, but one thing I know for sure, my sister and I were so blessed to be surrounded by so much love and dedication.

Happy Anniversary, mom and dad.......I wish I could be there with you today....



Love can last forever....... don't ever let anyone tell you different

A huge kiss from the bottom of my heart.....

I love you!

Your son

Edison



My mom kissing my dad after he gave her a 50 year anniversary ring...


(In Portuguese)


Oi!

Hoje é um dia muito muito especial. Hoje os meus pais celebram 50 anos de casados e eles parecem se amar tanto quanto da primeira vez que se encontraram.

Em 1963 minha mãe estava trabalhando para um Estilista de moda muito famoso no Brasil e meu pai apareceu um dia e viu essa mulher muito bonita e o resto é historia.  Em menos de um ano eles mudaram juntos e um ano depois eles se casaram. A minha irmã nasceu em 1965 e três anos depois eu fui abençoado de ser parte da familia.

A gente não tinha muito dinheiro mas eu nunca senti que nós não tinha o suficiente. A mamãe ficava em casa cuidando da minha irmã e de mim e o papai trabalhava muito para colocar comida na mesa. A gente tomava café da manhã juntos todos os dias e janta todas as noites e apesar dos altos e baixos, eu tive uma infância maravilhosa.

Uma coisa que lembro bemfoi que eles sempre davam um beijo antes do meu pai sair para trabalhar e quando ele voltava para a casa a noite e todas as vezes que saimos para andar, eles sempre estavam de mãos dadas. A gente via o amor que eles tem pelo outro todos os dias e isso realmente fez uma diferença de, como crianças, vimos o mundo ao nosso redor.

Os meus pais são os melhores pais que qualquer um poderia pedir. Eu tenho certeza que eles as vezes não concordavam um com o outro mas não lembro eles brigando ou gritando.. Eles tinham tanto respeito um pelo outro e acho que umas das razões foi porque eles sabiam a posição deles no casamento e eles tentavam sempre fazer o melhor possivel e fazer o outro feliz.

Eu gostaria de ser tão bom pai ou esposo como os meus pais, e não sei porque Deus me deu pais tão maravilhosos, mas uma coisa eu sei com certeza...a minha irmã e eu tivemos fomos abençoados de crescer ao redor de tanto amor e dedicação.

Feliz Bodas de Ouro, mamãe e papai...... Eu queria tanto estar ai com vocês.... 


Amor pode ser para sempre sim......Nunca deixe ninguém dizer ao contrario....

Um Beijão do fundo do meu coração....

Amo vocês!

Seu filho,

Edison

Friday, May 16, 2014

Who is Carlos Luzzi? He is a lot of characters.....

Howdy folks....

I admire many people in the animation and illustration industry. There are some artists that are so good at what they do that you can see their  work in at least a couple of movies a year. Nicolas Marlet, Sergio Pablos, Carter Goodrich, Carlos Grangel.....great character designers and artists and although I do admire them quite a lot, there are just a few that I also look up to and Carlos Luzzi is one of them.




Carlos and I have similar backgrounds. He was born and raised in Sao Paulo Brazil and worked for several animation studios doing commercials and character development. Like me, he worked under Sandro (you all know who he is..) and then went to the American Animation Institute to be trained under Glen Vilppu's orientation.




Then you might ask "So.....you are from the same town and you do the same thing....why do you look up to him?". I do because he is not just a great artist.....his drawing reflect personality and character like no other. There is a softness to his approach that I almost can see the soul of the characters he designs. It is very hard to draw something that thinks and breaths and he managed to do that with fewer lines than many others.......and he is also a hell of a nice guy.  I have to be honest, I never met the man but I have spoken to him on several occasions and people who know him well have told me how hard working, great guy he is. 




With 3 more artists, Paulo Ignez, Ivan Oviedo and Peque, they formed the 4FORFUN which is a site where each week they come up with a theme and each artist do their take on it. From 80's movies to kid's with floats to WWII, they give us a fun approach to character design and show everyone how creative one can be by just letting our imagination run wild. 






What can I say? I love his drawings and I look forward to working with him someday. In the meantime, visit his site at www.carlosluzzi.com and check out the 4FORFUN site by clicking on the banners below.

Now...go get inspired.......

Cheers







Saturday, May 10, 2014

Lets get Cursed......

Hello Fellow artists...

Although I have been an animator and illustrator for many years, as many of you know, one of my biggest passions is build and paint model kits. But I'm a very picky one. I only buy and spend money on what I consider high quality kits and I could not be happier to let everyone knows about the new Curse of the Werewolf 1/4 scale resin kit...


 


Sculpted by the very talented hands of Mark Van Tine and Produced by Paul Gill at Gillman Productions, "Diego the Werewolf" is approximately 18 inches tall, comes in about 10 parts and it will be available at Wonderfest and after that through Paul Gill himself at 955paulmgill@gmail.com






Price is to be determined and the castings will be super limited so if you can get a hold of this kit as soon as possible. Remember Janus Company? Or that kit that you really want but it's now gone? I know that happened to me a few times and will never let that happened again.  Take a loan, borrow money from your friends, get a second job, whatever it takes, don't miss the opportunity of getting this museum quality piece.   




As an artist, a modeler and a fan of Horror, this piece is a no-brainer. It's a must for mine and anybody's collection and if you don't get one, well....you will just miss the opportunity of being Cursed....

Cheers 









Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Life Lines.......

Hi!

When I was a kid I drew all the time. Like many kids at my age, it was a way to express my emotions and how I felt that particular day. Sometimes I did it for fun but still it was part of me like nothing else. I played with my friends and went to school and did what most of kids do but there was something about drawing that just made me whole. 


I'm sure most if not all my fellow artists share this same story growing up and now that we are older, somehow we still feel the same as we did as kids when it comes to drawing, although we have so many other things to think about. It is and it will always be a escape to the deep realms of our emotions and I never stop trying to improve my drawing abilities despite having a pretty successful career in animation the past 27 years.



Yeah, my drawings are not particular the best out there. I look up to so many artists and wonder why I am not as good doesn't matter how hard I try, but then those same people I look up to sometimes tell me they love my work and that gives me a boost and the confidence to draw even more every day. 


             


A very famous animator and director told me once that if you stop learning you don't stay at that last level, you actually start to go backwards. The best way to becoming a better animator and designer is to push yourself and try to do better than your last drawing, which is really something you can apply in life as a parent, a spouse, a friend and as a person in general.


So keep on drawing everyday because, in the end, drawing is not just lines on a piece of paper or on a computer tablet.....drawing is really a way to express life and make yourself a better....well......you. 

Cheers








Sunday, April 6, 2014

Acknowledging the greatness of Monsterpalooza....

Hi fellow modelers!

As many of you know I love this hobby as much as the next guy, but have little time to work on our models and going to shows. Wonderfest is The Show to be if you love modeling, but many of us are unable to go because it is either too far from where you live or we just can't afford it. 

I've been to a lot of big Horror shows like Halloween Party Expo in Texas and Transworld in St Louis, and the thing is that Monsterspalooza is one of the best shows out there. You have well know names like Stan Winston School or make up and effect artists from the industry as well as lots of great celebrities. I actually met and talk to Greg Nicotero who is the head of make up effects and one of the directors of The Walking Dead. But it is also a great way to meet the great people of our hobby like Jeff Camp, Rick Cantu, Terry Webb, Mike Hill, John Allred, Steve Wang, Takeya, Jim Lawrence, Gabriel Garcia to name a few.



Mike Hill Life Size Frankenstein


But you get to see a lot of the companies that we love such as Whitworht Models, Blackheart, Casey Love designs, Creature features and many others.

Not only that but you can be part of AFM's Monster Making Model Contest where you can see a lot of great models painted by people like you and me who are passionate about this hobby, but you get to meet all those great people and get tips through just asking them or participating in the Blackheart Badger painting class to learn from the best and have a lot of fun.



BlackHeart's new Bride of Frankenstein bust By Jeff Yagher


This year's contest was great but we need more people and more models to make it even better. So next year make it part of your schedule to attend this amazing show. Bring your models and make the organizers realize that we need to be in a bigger room because the amount people participating in the contest has doubled. That way we will guarantee that more model kit companies will come over, meet great people and make sure the hobby stay alive and strong for many years to come.

Cheers





Check out these great photos of the show

https://www.facebook.com/stan.wong/media_set?set=a.10203358350948355.1073741841.1498634903&type=1

https://www.facebook.com/eric.tengren/media_set?set=a.10153250961463539.1073741828.671473538&type=1

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bandwfrog/sets/72157643248436053/

Sunday, March 2, 2014

What the #@&*...... !!!!!

Howdy Folks!

It's been a while but I'm back. It's been a great year so far with a lot going on and I started to put my Sketchbook together to be available by November. In the meantime, this is what I've been doing.....It's called WTF Dogs....



"Welcome to Facebook?" "Williamstorwn Theatre Festival?"  "Wikileaks Task Force?""World Taekwondo Federation"?......It can mean so many different things but it is actually my son's first reaction when he saw these highly emoting canines.... Some of them can represent my mood that day (yes.....I was having a crazy day when I decided to have a corn dog...) but I want it to be fun and sketchy and just let my imagination run wild. 

I will update the blog as soon as get more of theses Canis Lupus Familiaris done. Let me know what you think.


Cheers


Edison