Merry Christmas – Cartoon Edition

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Nativity

Merry Christmas everyone! I’d like to use the occasion of Christmas to post a link to an animation project I developed in 2010 for the ministry of Living Waters. They hired me to produce a short cartoon that explains the basic Christian message, and in a round-about way I hope it helps explain why the birth of Jesus Christ was such a big deal. To date it has received over 430,000 views on YouTube and has been subtitled into nineteen other languages. I only did some of the animation but I designed all of the characters, props, and backgrounds (the above image is based on a still from the cartoon). If you like the video you can download an HD version for free to use however you’d like.

If you haven’t already I’d be honored if you’d take five minutes out of your busy holiday to watch it. If not, thanks for indulging me. Either way, here’s wishing you a very merry Christmas and happy new year!

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Themed Costumes For Goldfish Swim School Mascot

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Goldfish Mascot Themes

Earlier this year I was hired by a chain of swimming schools in Wisconsin to design a mascot for their company, Goldfish Swim Schools. You can see a few of the initial sketches here. They named the mascot “Bubbles”, and they liked him/her/it so much that they asked me to create themed variations for use on calendars, removable tattoos, etc. They gave me a list of themes, and the above image is what I came up with.

I recently completed a second batch of themed costumes that I hope I can show soon, and now I’m doing some coloring book art for them featuring Bubbles. If you’ve got company or brand that could use a mascot, drop me a line. I’d love to chat about how I can help you out. You might also want to read my blog post, The Power Of A Mascot.

Clive & Ian’s Wonderblimp of Knowledge

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wonderblimp

VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer has just released a new DVD called Clive and Ian’s Wonderblimp of Knowledge. The series features two popular puppet brothers from Phil’s ongoing series What’s In The Bible?.

The purple monkey puppet in the background was designed by yours truly. Here’s the final design (you can see my concept sketches in an earlier post):

Monkey Puppet Design

Clive and Ian’s Wonderblimp of Knowledge answers six big questions kids have about God, such as:

  • How old is God?
  • How strong is God? Is he stronger than a Superhero?
  • If God is so busy with the whole universe, can I count on Him?
  • Who made the world?
  • Why do parents sometimes let us down?
  • Is God truthful?

 

I can’t figure out how to embed the trailer for the DVD but you can watch it here. Here’s a free sample episode Vischer has posted on YouTube:

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Want to order a copy of the DVD? Just click here. (Full disclosure: I don’t get any extra money or royalties if you buy. I just like the series and want to promote it.)

Animation for “What’s In The Bible?” Vol. 8

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For the past couple of years VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer has been working on an ambitous new project called What’s In The Bible? It’s a 13-part DVD series that uses puppets, live action, and animation to educate children and adults alike about the contents of the best-selling book of all time. It’s an entertaining blend of Bible stories, theology, church history, and answers to tough questions, with equal parts silliness and reverence.

I’ve had the honor of animating a few short segments for the series, and it’s been a lot of fun. Volume 8: Psalms, Proverbs, and the Writings has just been released. I  animated a short segment on Proverbs to help explain the difference between being smart and being wise. Unfortunately I can’t post the animation here yet, but I do have permission to show a few screen shots:

Here’s a trailer for What’s In The Bible Volume 8. You can order the DVD here.

EDIT: The client has posted a portion of the animation I did for them on YouTube. For your viewing pleasure:

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VeggieTales Costumes and Props

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Last year I was hired by Big Idea to design some costumes and props for a VeggieTales compilation DVD called “God Loves You Very Much” (Amazon link). The DVD contains three previously published VeggieTales stories (“The Ballad of Little Joe”, “Gideon: Tuba Warrior” and “Rack Shack and Benny”) but new countertop segments were created to weave the stories together. My work was used in those kitchen comedy bits.

Veggietales-LarryVeggietales-BobVeggieTales-EaselThe script called for a few of the characters to create paintings during the countertop segments. Here’s a couple of the prop paintings I created:

VeggieTales-paintings

“God Loves You Very Much” can be purchased from Amazon. (Full disclosure: If you click and then buy, Amazon will drop a few coins into my piggy bank.)

EDIT: Here’s a screen grab showing how it all turned out:

VeggieTales screen grab

This and That 6/11/12

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A few tidbits from around the webisphere:

• VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer is coming to a pair of headphones near you with The Phil Vischer Podcast. He discusses pop culture, theology, and Christian living with equal parts insight and silliness. I listened to Episode 2 today at the gym. It took a couple of minutes to get going but there was some really great stuff. Highly recommended.

• If anyone has a handle on storytelling it’s the folks at Pixar. Here’s a list of 22 Rules of Storytelling from Pixar artist Emma Coats.

• Illustrator and all-around-nice-guy Bob Ostrom is looking for artists, writers, publisher, art directors, designers and anyone else involved in children’s publishing to feature on his blog. If that’s you, let him know. I don’t know what his selection criteria is but you never know unless you try. While you’re there, check out Bob’s recent blog post, “How To Illustrate Children’s Books – A Backstage Pass”.

• FreelanceSwitch.com has a list of 12 Breeds Of Clients And How To Work With Them. An oldie but a goodie, full of great advice for the creative professional.

• Recently I updated my list of Recommended Resources on Amazon.com. (Full disclosure: If you click and then buy, Amazon will drop a few coins into my piggy bank).

• Finally, a short montage of characters created by the great Orson Welles. Good inspiration for character design sketching:

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