There's a new meme for artists floating around the internet called an "Influence Map". It was started by Boston artist Matt Laskowski over on DeviantArt.com. Here's how it works: you download a template that contains a grid of white squares. Then you paste in samples of artwork from other artists who have inspired and influenced you over the years. The...
At my website you can download free PDF mini-portfolios of my work. The PDFs I had posted were getting a little old—I hadn't updated them in almost a year and a half—so yesterday I uploaded new PDFs including some of my latest work. Click on over to download my...
Recently I was hired to design a mascot/logo for a new tuna supply company for the restaurant industry. Bigeye Tuna Guys is a new venture that will be launching soon. I was asked to design a mascot/icon based on a "bigeye", which is a breed of tuna. Being a cartoonist, my first round of sketches explored various ways to caricature a...
Last year I did some concept development work for an animated motion picture currently being developed in Hollywood. I was brought on board to help design some animal characters. The catch was that I had to try to match the style of another artist who had already done quite a bit of their visual development. I did some sketches of an...
JellyTelly.com is a fun website project from Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales. He's partnered with Focus on the Family to create online daily episodes combining animation, puppetry, and live action to present Biblical concepts to kids in fun and entertaining ways. Sort of like a Christian Sesame Street. It's really fun stuff! Much of the site's content is populated by puppet...
Dan Haskett is an animation veteran and one of the top character designers in the business. He’s contributed to classic feature films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Prince of Egypt, Mulan, and Toy Story. Dan helped translate Matt Groening’s early sketches for The Simpsons into the look we know today and was rewarded with an Emmy for his work. He’s also worked on numerous commercials and created animated bits for Sesame Street.
I first met Dan Haskett at the Motion '08 animation conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he gave a fascinating presentation on designing ethnic characters (read my blog post about it here). After his presentation he was kind enough to review my portfolio. The following year I was invited back to the Motion conference as a speaker where I again had the chance to visit with Dan. He’s a brilliant and versatile artist, a likable guy with strong opinions that he shares in a soft-spoken and thoughtful manner.
In January 2010 Dan was kind enough to give me a phone interview from his desk at Warner Brothers where he is currently designing characters for two Scooby Doo projects. He shared some observations on the industry, offered some advice, and gave his thoughts on The Princess and the Frog from his perspective as an African American in the animation industry.
(Full interview after the break.)
(The above artwork is copyright © Dan Haskett. All rights reserved.)
