Magical Memories

In the summer of 1988 my family embarked on a road trip around the United States to see as many landmarks as possible in a 1 month period. Little did I know what I would find on this journey. At 13 years old I already had a fondness of animation, but it was at the newly constructed Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida that I knew what I wanted to do.

One attraction at this park is called The Magic of Disney Animation. At the time you were able to watch real Disney Animators at work from behind a glass curtain after viewing a short movie on the process of creating an animated movie. Once I stepped in, it was a slice of heaven for this young artist with a love for cartoons.

Disney Animation Paper Circa 1988

The picture above is of the actual case of Disney Animator's Drawing Paper that I purchased on that special trip in 1988. I found this paper tucked away in a file cabinet containing some of my old artwork. The caption on the right states, "Animator's Drawing Paper- 50 sheets specially made to Disney Animation specifications. Created exclusively for the Animation Gallery."

Car Toons

If you are going to pay for your license and registration, why not build in some mobile marketing too!

Summer SurPRIZES

What do you have planned for your kids this summer? How about drawing to win prizes!
Back in March we announced an upcoming Drawing Contest that would appear in a Sponsorship Ad for my daughter's school yearbook. Well the 2010/2011 Yearbook was released to the students TODAY, and so is the VoogDesigns Drawing Contest!

CLICK HERE for the VoogDesigns Drawing Contest Details

Soul Sketching

 A Sketchbook. What is it for? I was once told that you need to get through 10,000 bad drawings to arrive at your first good one! In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell makes this point with The 10,000 Hour Rule. He provides specific examples to illustrate a common denominator for many of the most successful people in history; that their breakthrough was not achieved before reaching 10,000 hours of practice.

With various projects in development, my sketchbook becomes filled with ideas, searching for the heart (or soul) of the characters I'm creating. Below is a slightly less "cartoony" approach to the Friar character, in the upcoming book, Feathers and the Friar, attempting to add more distinct features from whom this character is based on.

Don Juanito

Observation. One way to give life to a drawing is to actually draw from life. There are great opportunities all around us as artists. One such moment was when I captured a co-worker psyching himself up to try and persuade an attractive girl handing out samples of a health beverage to go out on a date with this charismatic young fellow.

When You Were A Kid

As parents, we are often asked the most inquisitive and innocent questions by our children. For me, my daughter often asks the question,  

"Dad, when you were a kid, what was your favorite ________ ?"

Well, tonight I gave my daughter the answer to the question, "What were my favorite cartoons when I was a kid." We sat down in front of our computer and after hearing theme songs of Saturday mornings past and viewing iconic images of my boyhood, one cartoon stood out from all the others.

Listen to the energetic theme song as the crisp action is perfectly timed to the beat. Look for the strong and dramatic anatomical poses during each character's introduction and a collage of the cast so nicely composed within the television frame. And finally the harmonious pacing of quick and slow movements, camera angles and perspectives.

The childhood cartoon that I deemed my favorite was, ThunderCats!

Special Guest Gets Shepherd's Greeting

Last night VoogDesigns welcomed a very special guest to the studio.

This Happy, Humble and Holy guest was so special in fact, that he was able to tame our vicious attack dog like St. Francis of Assisi subdued the Wolf of Gubbio!

Thank you Friar Joe Scerbo for blessing our home with your warm company.

Get your Friar Joe gear at www.FriarJoes.VoogDesigns.com