"My mouth's bleeding, Bert! MY MOUTH'S BLEEDING!"

     Here's everyone's favorite accordion-playing policeman, Bert the cop!

     I always thought that Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie were named after the Bert and Ernie from "It's a Wonderful Life." But apparently the fact that they have the same names was just a coincidence. However, the film's deleted scene where Bert the cop expresses his love for pigeons and the word 'linoleum' makes me doubt this.

"Hey Mr. Martini!! How 'bout some Wine?"

     Next up, from Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," the film's female lead, Mary Bailey, wonderfully played by Donna Reed.

     This Mary I chose to draw is from the scene where she and George are presenting the Martini family the keys to their new house in Bailey Park. Mary gives them bread, so their house will never know hunger. Salt, so their life will always have flavor. And wine, so joy and prosperity may reign forever.

Sweet stuff.

     I didn't get any of this when I bought my first home... just a bunch of paper work. I remember asking the lady at the Mortgage Office, "Where's my SALT, woman?!?"

"Hot Dog!!!"

     Last December, I drew some characters from my favorite film of all time, "It's a Wonderful Life." This year, I thought it'd be fun to go ahead and draw some more. First up, the town druggist, Old Man Gower.

     Mr. Gower doesn't have just a whole lot of screen time in the film, and most of the time that we do see him, he's not very happy. I didn't think drawing a drunk and depressed Mr. Gower would really have the same spirit as the rest of these drawings, so I gave him a more cheerful disposition. Who knows, maybe this is how he looked before he received the earth-shattering news that his son had died, causing him to physically abuse his underage employee. 

     By the way, if I'm ever referred to as "Old Man Nate," I will be 100% okay with it.

Number One or Number Two?

This one's kind of random, but I have this blog, so I might as well post something!

These are some bathroom passes my grandpa and I made for my aunt's class of first graders. My aunt really likes the "Peanuts" gang, so she wanted Charlie Brown and friends to be on them. My grandpa really likes woodworking, so he made them. I really like to draw, and so I drew them.

And that, my friends, is as interesting as this story gets.

And Then Shawarma After

     I guess it's kind of weird feeling all nostalgic for a message board, but that seems to be the case with me at the moment. Artist Ben Caldwell used to have a forum on his website that several aspiring artists such as myself would frequent. I had a lot of fun posting art, looking at the art of others, and conversing with everyone on the various message boards. Alas, the number of visitors to the forums steadily dwindled and now the site no longer exists. *sniffle*

But enough wining! Back in 2007, the forum had one of its "Weekly Challenges" where everyone was supposed to put their own spin on Iron Man. To the left here is my entry for the contest. I can't help but cringe every time I look at it. Aside from the messed up proportions, there's a whole wannabe "Metropolis" thing going on. That's not really Iron Man's style.

     I've never been the biggest comic book fan and this was back before the first Iron Man movie hit theaters so, at the time, I really couldn't have cared less about the character. I've since seen the movie, of course, as well as the rest of the Avengers blockbusters and I now can't get enough of the guy! After stumbling upon my old contest entry, I thought it would be fun to give it another try. I know there's definitely no shortage of Iron Man fan art out there today, but I don't tend to draw a whole lot of super heroes, so this is a big deal for me and my little world of Care Bears and Disney Ducks.

     Oh! And on a side note: I'm not really a fan of "Iron Man 2." Really, Mickey Rourke?!? Giant Laser Whips?!? That was your master plan?!?

That would have been a fun little rant for the message boards.

Mickey's Not-So Scary Halloween

My emotions are mixed when it comes to the subject of Halloween. I don't have much of a tolerance for things that are scary... but I really love dressing up!

Here, in the spirit of just fun cosplay, are Disney characters dressed... as Disney characters!

Mickey Mouse as Peter Pan

Chip 'n' Dale as Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum

Daisy Duck as Ursula

Donald Duck as Jack Sparrow

Minnie Mouse as Belle

Pluto as Tigger

Goofy as Woody

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

Rebooting Ruxpin - Newton Gimmick

     Time for me to go back and give some more of the Teddy Ruxpin characters a reboot! So far, I've done Teddy and Grubby. Here's the third in the bunch... Newton Gimmick!

     I decided that instead of the absent-minded inventor, I would re-imagine Gimmick as more of a gruff old mechanic. Maybe he used to serve on an airship in the Royal Fleet and now he spends his retirement years tottering away in his junk yard. Oh sure, he's still all about the inventions! There's just a lot less, "Eee, Err, Ehh" and a lot more "Just rub some dirt in it, ya buncha Panzies!"

Hey, Disney! Shut Up and TAKE MY MONEY!!

     There's no real point to this blog post. It was just one of those instances that I thought was really cool and decided to yammer on about it in my little corner of the internet.

Fun word.

     First off, a little backstory. A few years ago, my wife and I were lucky enough to visit Walt Disney World in Florida. I could go on and on about how awesome it was, but I'll spare you that novel only to say that one of the many things I loved about that place is how the meet-and-greet characters have their own collectively unique style. This is, of course, due to the fact that the characters at the park are in fact, real human beings and the original stylized look of the characters has to be altered to make a practical costume for these beings with human proportions to wear. But that's the pragmatical way of looking at it. If you want to look at it through my magical rose-colored Disney glasses, you would see it as a consistent style applied to a variety of characters so that they may all coexist in our reality. 

Otherwise, this is just Joyce from Hoboken

     On the flight home, I conjured up in my little nerd brain some form of collectors figures depicting the characters as they appear in the parks. As soon as we got home, I started drawing what I decided to call, "Disney Park Pals." I'll admit, I'm pretty lousy when it comes to titles.

It's at least catchier than "Hind-Legged Pluto and Friends"

     I had a ton of fun drawing these guys! I discovered the wonderful website, CharacterCentral.net and was inspired to draw these six characters.  I imagined them as toys and I also wanted to take a stab at package design, so I thought this would be a fun way to do that!

     I posted the finished product back in 2011, but eventually, I started to rethink how they should look, so I worked up a "cleaner" version.

     I loved the idea of there being figures with this realistic style, but I finally decided that I would have more fun drawing the characters in a completely different way… and this, like everything else on this blog, is for the sole purpose of ME having FUN! So I scrapped the idea of them being toys and just focused on drawing the characters in my own style… whatever THAT is. Here's a glimpse of where I am now in this process.

     It's a completely different idea than what I was imagining on that plane ride, all of those years ago, but that's how it goes, I guess. Flash forward to this year! Here's the aforementioned "cool" part of my story! I recently took a trip to my beloved Disney Store. I was busy debating whether or not it would be appropriate to buy a giant stuffed Vanellope von Schweetz, when my eyes wandered over and spotted THIS! 

     I was like Dr. Grant looking at a dinosaur for the first time! They actually did it! Now, instead of just imagining owning these things, I could actually buy them! Which, by the way, is great for Disney since they would much rather have my actual money instead of my imagination money… the little dears. 

Goofy sends his gawrshes with luv.

     I should add that I realize this idea of mine wasn't the most original and I'm sure the very talented people at Disney thought of this all on their own… BUT if there is a slim chance that someone from Disney Parks is getting ideas from this blog, how 'bout sending a couple of Disney World 'thank you' tickets my way? Oh! Also… when will Penguin Suits be hitting the shelves? 

That last part was a joke.

Snork Week presents... Tooter Shellby

     Well, Snork Week 2013 is officially winding down. Last Snork of the Week: the Silent but Spectacular Tooter Shellby.

   

     When I was a kid, we had one episode of Snorks on VHS that I watched over and over. In fact, that ONE episode is really what I base most of my Snork knowledge off of. This fact is probably the reason I keep getting booted off all of the "snork dork" fan forums. Oh well.

     That one episode focused on the beloved Tooter and his inability to speak. While I've always been able to speak, I still dealt with my fair share of bullying as a child. I really felt for Tooter and his plight. It was inspiring to see that even though some of us may have little quirks that keep us from fitting in with the rest of the crowd, we'll still have our moment to... honk loudly and scare off the giant Snorkeater... no wait. That's not right. Is it? ...aww man. I really felt like I was going somewhere with all of that. Nuts.

     Anywho! I hope all of you have enjoyed my reinterpretations of the Snorks, this week. Thanks for taking the time to check them out each day. And here's a special treat! Each Snork pic connects to make one bigger pic! That's right, kiddies! Get an adult to print each one out and just slide them together!

How's that for fun?

Snork Week presents... Junior Wetworth

     I guess every successful cartoon group of good guys needs a jerk somewhere in the mix (Grumpy Bear, Raphael, etc.) In the case of the Snorks, Wellington Wetworth, Jr. is that JERK.

   

     With the Snorks sharing a lot of the same traits, such as friendliness and good sportsmanship, I personally find Junior's elitism and overall douchey-ness somewhat... refreshing.

Snork Week presents... Casey Kelp

     I don't know what the deal seems to be with me and these girl snorks. I keep trying to think of something witty (and, of course, insightful) to say about Casey Kelp. But just as the case was with her friend Daffney... I've got nothing.

     Lately, I keep seeing these ads for the new iPhone and how the big deal seems to be that they come in different colors. It's like, "Woo-hoo! It's Pink!" I guess that's how I feel about Casey. "Woo-hoo. She's pink."

That's about it.

Snork Week presents... Allstar Seaworthy

    When I was a kid, Allstar was my favorite of the Snorks, which is funny since we don't share any of the same traits. Allstar is athletic and likes inventing things. I don't like sports at all and, as far as inventing goes, I seem to only get a kick out of things that remind me of the 1980's, so I'm not sure you could neccesarily call me "innovative."

     Allstar also has a pet octopus. Me? I've always been more of a mollusk guy, myself.

Snork Week presents... Occy

Question: What has eight legs and barks like a dog? Answer: Occy

     

     The reason that wasn't funny is because it wasn't a joke. Nope. Occy, the pet of Snork Allstar Seaworthy, happens to fit that description exactly.

     While tuna are considered the chicken of the sea, Occy, or more precisely, octopus canis, are more or less the dogs of the sea. As opposed to your typical ink-squirting octopuses, this little guy is a much smaller and friendlier species, known specifically for its loyalty, as well as the aforementioned barking. 

     They're relatively harmless, however some have been known to have a fondness for chasing tuna, or rather... Sea Chickens.

Snork Week presents... Daffney Gillfin

     Ahh! Daffney Gillfin. What can you say about Daffney Gillfin?

     Seriously! What can you say about Daffney Gillfin? I've got nothing.

Snork Week presents... Dimmy Finster

     It's official! Snork Week has begun! So make yourself comfy and get ready for more snork goodness than you can shake an elongated head appendage at!

     First up is Dimmy Finster. According to the Snork Wiki (That's right... there's a Snork Wiki), "not much is known about Dimmy's past." Pretty intriguing, huh? Even more mysterious is why Dimmy unexplainably disappeared after the show's second season. PLUS, he has a crooked snorkel. What's that all about?

     I, personally, like to think that Dimmy was involved in some sort of "21 Jump Street" situation... posing undercover to get to the bottom of some mass-snork conspiracy. Once he was successful with his mission, the Snorkland government had him relocated and wiped the memories of everyone he came into contact with.

     None of this explains the crooked snorkel, but hey, a good backstory requires a little bit of mystery! Amiright?

Fall Back MY SNORK!

     I've never really been a fan of the fall season. This year, however, I came up with something to help ease my woes as we transition into the dreaded monotony of short days and long-sleeved shirts.

     You're all like, "Whaaa? The Snorks?!? How oh how shall those mere underwater Smurfs from yore possibly provide solace in this bleak time of windbreakers and... brown things?" Well, I'll tell you, friends! 

     Every day for the first week of fall, you'll get to meet a different member of the Snork family... each with the refreshing new look that you can only get here at the ol' blogspot! You'll be so wrapped up in the vibrant wonder and splendor that is Snork Week, that you'll be completely oblivious to all of that flannel shirt and dormant grass crap. By the time you've awoken from this Snork-filled euphoria, voila!  It's Christmas Time! And who doesn't love Christmas time?

     That's just one scenario, however. The more likely option is that you'll go, "Hmm. That's nice," and then get smacked upside the face by a chilly autumn "breeze."

See you in the fall, kiddos!

More like 'meeska POOska!' Amiright?!?

     I guess this, along with my drawing of Jar Jar Binks, can officially kick off my series of famous characters with fecal matter. I know what you're thinking. "Weirdo artists."

     Actually, some friends of mine are taking a vacation to Walt Disney World soon and thought the trip might be a nice incentive for the potty training of their daughter. I made this for them to use as a form of visual aid. 

     Hopefully it works, because if you think Mickey Mouse hates dirty diapers, JUST WAIT until you meet Clarabelle Cow!

Dinosaucers

     If you visit this blog often enough, you'll learn that I was AND AM a huge fan of 1980's cartoon shows. However, I had never even heard of the show Dinosaucers until just recently when I received a request on my deviantArt to draw some of the show's characters. Since it was a relief to receive a deviantArt request that didn't involve the words 'pokemon' or 'erotic,' I decided to google the show and give it a shot. Here's what I turned out.

     I still haven't actually watched an entire episode of the show, but from what I can gather, it's about dinosaurs with spaceships. What's not to love about that?

Wreck 'Em!

     As opposed to most people in West Texas, I am NOT a sports fan. However, I do love cartoons. Growing up, I enjoyed the work of local cartoonist Dirk West.

     Due to my lack of sports knowledge, I didn't really get the jokes when I was a kid, but now... they fly COMPLETELY over my head!

I think the joke here is that all sports are nonsense.

     However, I still really love Mr. West's style and the personality he gave to each of the team mascots. I had a collection of his newspaper cartoons that I would constantly analyze. Again, I didn't get any of the jokes, but I absolutely adored the art. Just for fun, here's my take on the star of Dirk West's cartoons, Texas Tech mascot, Raider Red.

 
Here's to you, Mr. West! Guns up!*

*That's what they say. I still don't know what it means.

"Your Eyes Can Deceive You. Don't Trust Them."

     Star Wars Month just keeps on a truckin' here at the ol' blogspot!

     Since Star Trek director, J.J. Abrams will be directing the new Star Wars film, the lines between "star" fandoms is becoming a little more blurry. Therefore, I've decided to draw a Star Trek character as a Star Wars character.

Here's Geordi La Forge as a Jedi Knight!

I know. I know. It's silly, but hey, that's the name of the blog!

"Always In Motion, The Future Is."

     "Star Wars: Episode VII" doesn't come out for another two years, and my fanboy brain is already in speculation overload!

     My goal, in the meantime, is to devise enough scenarios for the film's plot, so that when it's finally released, it will HAVE to be based, even if only loosely based, on at least one of my many fan stories. The only opponent of this plan, so far, is my wife, in that the time and intensity required for this type of undertaking doesn't allow me to focus as much on my personal hygiene.

Clearly, the consequences of both sides need to be weighed.

     In the meantime though, here's a glimpse at New Star Wars Scenario #38. About a year ago, I had this dream where actor extraordinaire Idris Elba was a Jedi Knight, and I was his apprentice! It was an awesome dream of epic magnitude, and now that we have more Star Wars in the future, it's possible that Idris Elba could star as a Jedi, thus making my nerd dream a reality! It's like that kid from "Angels in the Outfield" said time and time again: "Hey! It could happen!"

     Although not as likely, there is also the possibility now that I could play Mr. Elba's Jedi Apprentice. Pending negotiations, of course.

"You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned."

     Sometimes, I like to go to this little place in the back of my mind where the Star Wars prequels don't exist. In this little place, I can let my imagination go wild contemplating what it was like for a young Obi-Wan and Anakin having adventures in a universe completely free of midichlorians and roger-rogers.

Here's my take on Obi-Wan from this alternate reality.

     When we first meet Obi-Wan in "A New Hope," he's supposed to be "laying low." He's a fugitive on the Empire's most-wanted list, so I like to think that his attire isn't a Jedi uniform, but just something an old man on Tatooine might wear. After all, it wouldn't make much sense for a wanted war criminal to be walking around in full uniform. I imagined that the Jedi attire would be something similar to what Luke wears in "Return of the Jedi." I drew this version with that in mind, and I also threw in some elements from Ralph McQuarrie's earlier concept drawing of Obi-Wan.

     It's fun to think this way, but unfortunately, I eventually have to return to reality, or as I call it... the "Jar Jar-verse." 

*sigh*

"Let's Keep A Little Optimism Here."

     Since this is May the 4th, I thought I'd take a little break from the drawing board and do some more "traditional" blogging about a certain blockbuster that has me filled with anticipation.

Cue Epic Fanfare

     I know the new chapter in the Star Wars saga is still pretty far off, but since the news of Disney buying Lucasfilm and putting Episode VII into motion, the interwebs have been flooded with opinions and speculation! This is me chiming in. I admit, when I first heard about it, I was somewhat perturbed. I'm not sure why, exactly. I guess I, like many I'm sure, have just grown accustomed to moaning and groaning anytime something new with a Star Wars label is announced.

Let's call it "prequel burn."

     That was my initial reaction. But as I drove home from work that day, I contemplated on the entirety of the situation and decided, for the time being, to think positively. Always look on the bright side, after all.

And when I think about it, most of the sides ARE bright sides. For instance:

BRIGHT SIDE #1 - Disney

  I've read a lot of rants from people worrying over the Walt Disney company destroying this beloved franchise with ridiculous stuff like Jedi Pixies or Miley Cyrus as Princess Leia! As if Cinderella sequels and Tweenage Disney Channel nonsense are the only products that Disney is capable of producing. I'm sure those same bellyachers were there cheering on opening night of "The Avengers." I think Disney did, and is doing, a pretty good job with that property, and unless I'm mistaken, I haven't seen one fairy princess yet!

I'm mistaken.

     Of course, I'm a huge Disney geek, so maybe I'm a little bias on this point, but after seeing the way Disney has leveraged other brands like Pixar, Marvel, and The Muppets, I'm confident that they'll give our beloved Star Wars nothing short of the royal treatment.

BRIGHT SIDE #2 - Michael Arndt

  Years ago, I got upset after hearing about an addition to another set of movies that I enjoyed. I'm talking about the Toy Story movies. When I first heard that Pixar was making "Toy Story 3," I moaned and groaned just like I did with the Episode VII news. I thought the first two Toy Story films were perfect on their own, and to throw in a third movie would just be a marketing driven cash grab that would lower their integrity. Boy! Was I wrong about that one! "Toy Story 3" has to be my favorite Pixar film to date! If anything, it enhances the integrity of the first two! I mean, I thought it was sad when Jessie tells her little story in "Toy Story 2!" Then the third one comes along and blows me away! I had no idea the level of emotion that these characters were capable of making me feel!

This scene reduces me to a quivering teary mess every time!

     The point I'm taking my sweet time getting to here is that "Toy Story 3" was written by Michael Arndt, the same screenwriter working on Episode VII. Anytime I feel any reservations about the new Star Wars, I remember what Mr. Arndt already did with a highly anticipated sequel to a well established franchise… which was also owned by Disney.

Seriously! EVERY TIME!

BRIGHT SIDE #3 - J.J. Abrams

  Finally, there's the directorial powerhouse that is Mr. J.J. Abrams! I first fell in love with this man back in 2007 after I happened upon the presentation he gave at a TED conference. He has such a contagious enthusiasm for movies as well as a brilliant approach to filmmaking! It's basically impossible for me not to have a man crush on the guy!

Lens flares set my heart aflutter.

  If you watch J.J. Abrams' TED Talk, you'll hear him mention Star Wars a little bit, which, by the way, just the small amount of time he spends discussing Star Wars shows the large amount of understanding he actually has. But what I really like is how he talks about how, with great films, the audience thinks they're watching one thing, when in reality, they're watching something else. He put this to work two years later when he made Star Trek. Here's another blockbuster set in outer space that, like Star Wars, had decades of already established concepts and themes leading up to its release. We all thought we had a pretty good idea what to expect, and then, within the first ten minutes of the film, we're sent off on this incredibly unexpected roller coaster of emotion!

I guess an overall theme here is that I like it when movies make me cry.

     Not only does this let the audience know right from the start that this is going to be a completely different Star Trek experience, but it invests the audience so much in the characters that, for the rest of the film, we're not just looking at a bunch of spaceships and transporter beams, but are actually involved in what's going on. This is exactly what Star Wars has been needing, and I think Mr. Abrams has proven that he can deliver.

As long as lens flares are part of the package!

  Now I'm not refusing to believe that Episode VII will be bad. No movie is immune to being a critical flop, especially when it comes to Star Wars. But when you consider the positive, there's plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the time being.

     These are just my opinions though. If you've been kind enough to read through this entire spiel of mine, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment. And since this is an art blog, and not a ramble on and on blog, I thought I'd go ahead and draw something.

May the 4th be with you!