07 Jan 2013 Highlights and Accomplishments
This is a few days late, but I thought it would be a good time to pause and reflect on what an awesome and action-packed year 2013 turned out to be! Here’s a few of the highlights from my studio:
Illustration
- I received a Pewter Plate Award from Highlights! magazine.
- I was hired by Ultra Creative to do cereal box art for Cocoa Puffs and the Monster Cereals, and packaging art for Gogurt.
- I continued creating advertising FPO comp art for CPC Intersect to help them pitch ideas to Green Giant, Fuze, and other brands which I can’t reveal (yet).
- I illustrated a new Gospel tract for kids for the ministry of Living Waters and animated a Christmas ecard for them which had over 30,000 views on YouTube.
- I illustrated some coloring book pages and signage for Goldfish Swim Schools.
- I dipped my toe into the waters of art licensing (not sure yet if I’ll take the full plunge).
Toy Design
- I continued doing toy design and concept art for multiple Hasbro projects (which unfortunately I’m not allowed to show).
- I did some packaging art and concept sketches for Crayola, which I also can’t show (yet).
- I did get permission to show a bit of toy concept work for Toys-R-Us.
- Some Cut the Rope and Cars toys I designed for DecoPac, Inc. started appearing on cakes in bakeries all over the country.
Character Design
- I designed animated characters for three new VeggieTales DVD’s (The Little House That Stood , MacLarry and the Stinky Cheese Battle, and Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas).
- I designed multiple characters for two more volumes of Phil Vischer’s What’s In The Bible? series, and a puppet character for a spinoff DVD Clive and Ian’s Wonderblimp of Knowledge.
- I designed some cartoon vehicle characters for Spaner Marketing.
Misc
- I successfully launched my first Kickstarter which led to the publication of the Pose Drawing Sparkbook, a tool designed to help artists put more life and personality into their drawings. Hundreds of people backed it and the response has been overwhelmingly positive, for which I’m deeply grateful.
- An article I wrote, “Attack of the Killer Word Balloons”, was published on BleedingCool.com and I was interviewed on AnimationInsider.com about the Sparkbook.
- I joined Tumblr and Dribble.
- An art gallery in Waseca, MN exhibited my courtroom sketch work.
- I gave a sold-out presentation on freelancing at the CTN Animation Expo.
- I designed a new logo for my studio, which was long overdue.
- I even took a few breaks to dabble in my sketchbook.
Whew! I’m exhausted just thinking about it all. This was one of the busiest years I can ever remember for my studio, but also one of the most enjoyable. I feel very blessed. Thanks to all of you who have supported me and shown interest in my work over the years. Here’s hoping 2014 is the best year yet!