Poster Boy....

Hi!

If you are wondering I have never been on a poster or represented a major social or religious group, but I always wanted to create a poster, something that represents many years of work and creation in my career.  

Being a professional animator, I never had a lot of time to create characters as much as giving them life but character design was always something I strived for and besides an opportunity here and there to create something unique, only after I went solo is when I had the chance to have my creative mind flow like never before and come up with hundreds, if not thousands of characters for Children's Books, Games and TV Shows as well as my own original designs.

I enjoy every moment of it and although I am very critical of my work, there are characters that I actually like and want to share with everyone. At first I though of a book, then t-shirts, but then I thought "What if I put some of my characters on a Poster and title it "The Art and Animation of an Animation Artist"?

Honestly, I had no idea how long it will take me to put it all together. Just the composition took me forever but choosing over 150 characters to put in it was a very long process, considering a lot of the ones I liked were older drawings and I just wanted to do them again.

After months I finally came up with something I was happy with and I got them printed in high quality paper and they looked great. I sold out of them pretty quickly, although a couple of people asked me why they should buy my poster if I wasn't famous or anything. I can't say it didn't hurt to hear that, not because I wanted to be famous but because I just want people to get it if they enjoy the designs and would love to have that up on their wall.

I'm now printing a second run with 2 different sizes, 24x36 and 18x24 which will be available in a couple of months...

...BUT WAIT!!!! There's more...

Due to the (mild)success of the first one, I'm also working on my second poster with better and funnier characters. I think I'm a better character designer now and I have a feeling this one will be more fun. 

The thing is, regardless if I'm famous or not, I just wanted to share some of my 30+ years of work in Animation, books, games and TV shows that I had the pleasure to be part of. I'm lucky to do what I love and I still love doing this as much as I did when I started. 

Having said that, I'm pretty sure a 3rd poster will be on its way in the near future..... eventually :)

Cheers

An Animated Year....

 Hi Folks!

Welcome back to my blog.

This year has been a very good one professionally speaking. I was able to work on 3 different movies coming up in the next few months. I had the honor to work with WB on their upcoming new hit Space Jam 2 New Legacy and it was a blast to be able to animate such legendary characters. It also gave me the opportunity to share the credits with some people I have not worked with in many years. 

I also worked as a character designer for the end credits on Hotel Transylvania 4 Transformania. I love those little animations they do at the end of the movie and to be able to be part of this great franchise was a nice addition to my resume :)

I also animated intensely on the second season of Netflix's Green Eggs and Ham. That was an experience I will never forget. The characters were great and I worked my butt off to get the best animation to them as I could. The first season was great but this one will be better specially because of the quality of animation that is absolutely fantastic.

So if you have kids (or just want to enjoy a good movie) make sure to check  Space Jam New Legacy, Hotel Transylvania Transformania and Green Eggs and Ham. I'm also working on a new Tom & Jerry Christmas Special that will be out sometime....well...before Christmas.... so I will keep you updated.

I have been working on the T&J show for a few years now and you

can find it on Boomerang TV as well as a lot of great classic cartoons there too. I'm not sponsored by them but I could.....can you hear me Boomerang? ;)

That's all Folks!

Cheers

I'm Back, Baby!

Hi guys!

I always new I'd be back but I just didn't know when. Yeah, I'm older now and somewhat wiser, but I have a lot to share with you all that will help you embrace your artistic side as well as give a bit of insight of my life as a family man, as an animator, a character designer and a coffee drinker (not necessarily in that order)

I started this blog in 2013 and I wanted it to be informative, fun and at the same time let people see some of my work and what I'm up to in the world of animation and family life.

In the past 6 years I moved across country, reached the big 50, my middle son became a teenager, I grew a very distinctive beard and I upgraded my status from a son, an uncle and a father to being a Grandpa. That's right, ladies, I'm officially a Silver Fox (step aside George Clooney)

The truth is that I have a lot to tell you guys and I want to do it at least once a week in an entertaining way so you will want to come back over and over :) In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest below. 

(Not bad for an old Brazilian man)

https://www.instagram.com/edisontoonsart/ 

https://www.pinterest.com/edisontoons/edisontoons-art/

International Men of Mystery....

Hi guys!

A professional freelancer like myself can struggle at times to make ends meet. It is a tough profession but it has its perks. For one, I get to do what I love, and as long it pays the bills, I'm happy. Two, I get to spend more time with my family which is great and sometimes stressful especially if you have a 4 year old coming in my office every 10 minutes to ask me what I am doing.

And with the advance of the internet, I get to feel like an international man because I was able to make friends and get work from all over the world. This year alone I have worked with clients from South Africa, Australia, England, Brazil, Scotland and India, besides the ones here in the US. It's seems to be expanding more as I'm talking to people for future work from Istanbul and Canada. I'm not saying that I am known globally but it certainly opens up new horizons and eventually more work which is ultimately what I am looking for.

Social media, Skype and Freelance sites made almost impossible not be able to find work if you really dedicate yourself  and use all means possible to become successful and look for work in different states and countries. 

I'm no James Bond (or Austin Powers for that matter), but I know that being good at what you do, spending hours researching and improving your skills and portfolios and having fun are essential for a successful career and a happy life.

"YEAH, BABY!!...YEAH"

If you are Interested, you can put a Pin on it....

Hi Guys!

Just to let you know that my online portfolio in now on Pinterest where you can see a lot of my designs and illustrations. I update that every week so go to https://www.pinterest.com/edisontoons/ and look me up and my other boards for character design reference, model painting and tutorials.

Cheers

Edison

https://www.pinterest.com/edisotoons/

Sketching for reel.....

Howdy!

Every so often I update my Sketch Reel with new drawings and here is the latest version. I draw so much that if I had to update my reel every time I do a few drawings, I will be doing this every other day.... But for now, enjoy the video.....

Cheers

Edison

Sketch Reel project 2015 from Edison Goncalves on Vimeo.

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

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

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!"

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.

          

New Sketch Reel from Edison Goncalves on Vimeo.