Glamour - Illustration Friday

The one and only glamour goddess!

Pixar, Disney and Steve Jobs

Comments from an article published in the Financial Times newspaper;

Pixar's meteoric rise from an initial $10m investment by the Apple Chief Steve Jobs to a $7.4bn takeover offer from Walt Disney highlighted the lucrative nature of the business of animation.
Joshua Chaffin (FT)

Steve Jobs has become a director at Disney while also becoming the companies biggest individual shareholder, but is not expected to take on any more formal role.
Richard Waters (FT)

Bob Iger, Disney's CEO, has explained his vision as using new technology to find new ways to distribute the company's content, and also to improve that content.Richard Waters (FT)

Music discovery

Now here is a find!! PANDORA ia a website thay you have to visit.

Its next generation music technology, its a free and plays tracks through your browser.

The way it works is that Pandora asks you for a song or artist that you like and then throws up tunes from that artist or trys to match it. I believe you are allowed up to 100 playlists. Its fun stuff and I was tapping my fingers to Hall and Oates, oh my, I have regressed to the 80's!

(tip on the nav, once you have the songs going, use the stop and play buttons on the top right to move onto the next song.) Enjoy!

There is only one hick up - I couldn't save my songs as I am not a resident in the USA.

Pandora says "At this time we are only licensed to offer Pandora music services to residents of the United States. Audio streaming regulations differ from country to country, and we are working on acquiring the proper licenses so we can legally offer Pandora outside of the United States. We require your zip code to confirm that you are a resident of the United States."

Cats - Illustration Friday

A cat is never alone.

Rushing by ...

I drew this landscape a while back and today I read these words from 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' by Sogyal Rinpoche. I wanted to remember them, so I made this postcard which I will print through Cafe Press.

E is for electric!

Electric boogaloo!

Magical cats

You wouldn't think this was the same cat, but it is. Got to work on my sketching!

Sea - Illustration Friday

The sun: as seen from under the sea.

Flavour of India - Illustration friday

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed”
Mahatma Gandhi

This illo is still a little rough on the edges but I need to go to bed! - Thanks for stopping by, please let me know what you think.

Holiday - Illustration Friday

The show must start!

Have a fabulous, warm, sparkling, loving new years eve!

Magical India

The hand painted art that you get to see in India really assaults your senses!

Above is a Buddhist temple in Sarnath , Varanasi

After the monsoon season this palace survives in the middle of the lake.
The architecture in India is just breath taking and I will use my pictures as inspiration to draw castles and backgrounds. you just watch out ValGalart, I will show you some new house designs. LOL!

Three New Miyazaki Films Debut at Studio Ghibli Museum

The Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan will debut three new short features from Hayao Miyazaki. Starting Jan. 3, 2006 and running until March 13, the three films will screen in the museum’s Saturn Theatre.

• 'House-hunting' is the story of Fuki, an energetic girl setting out on a trip to look for a new house.

• 'Mon- the water spider' follows a water spider who experiences love at first sight with a lovely water strider, who skitters freely over the surface of the water.

• 'The day I harcested a star' is the story of a visionary world based on artist Naohisa Inoue's original work Iblard.

For more information, visit Miyazaki Web

Imagine - Illustration Friday

Imagine a world beyond your dreams.

Mind Game by Masaaki Yuasa

I am a fan of Anime animation and my latest find is the animator Masaaki Yuasa. He released his debute 'Mind Game' in 2004. The plot is a journey of self-discovery based on a Japanese cult underground comic. The reviews of his work say that he ues some of the most innovative animation, mixing rough lines and storyboards with photographic touches.

I haven't been able to source the DVD and would love to see it, so please let me know if you find it!

For more animation news have a look at Frames per second online animation magazine.

Tandem Film's

Tandem Film's
Is an animation studio in Islington London . They have done impressive work for Nike and Honda to mention a few names… have a look at their movies on their web site.

Ice Age 2

Blue Sky Studios is looking for artists to work on Ice Age 2. Here are the details…

"We are currently seeking motivated, talented, creative people to join our award-winning team. We have several FULL-TIME and TEMPORARY positions available for our current production, Ice Age 2, and other assorted development projects. The positions will be filled quickly so we encourage you to submit your application and reel now to avoid missing out. "

Surprise - Illustration friday

It's a fine line between shock and surprise.

Polar ice

Christmas ice skating for this polar bear.

Japanese Blue

Sketch with pencil and marker pen.

Blue - Illustration Friday

Out of the blue.

This illo took a little time to do. I was back and forth with the gradient mesh tool trying to create highlights and shadows on the sea but I had some disastrous effects, and so ended up using flat colours and shapes to create the illusion of the sea and sky. But if you want to see some truly amazing photorealistic work using the gradient mesh tool have a look at Todd Ferris. I just don’t know how he does it!

I would be so grateful for your comments. ;-)