The Book Sale Strikes Back

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That’s right. I’m having another book sale.

I’ve got a pretty large collection of art books in my studio library. Too many in fact. I bought a stack of books last summer at Comic-Con and they’ve been piled neatly on my studio floor all these months because there’s just no room for them on the shelves. So it’s time to prune everything down again.

I’ve listed a few books for sale on Amazon and hope to add more in the next few days. You can view a live update of everything I have available on my Amazon.com storefront: http://www.amazon.com/shops/cedricstudio

I’ve tried to undercut other Amazon sellers whenever possible. If I’ve got a like-new copy I’m not going to sell it for cheaper than someone selling a raggedy book full of highlighting and coffee stains, but if my copy is in the same condition as one listed by another seller I’ve tried to underbid him. They could always counter by lowering their price (some sellers even have software that does this automatically) but for the moment at least, buying from me will get you the best deal. You can check for sure by clicking on the item and looking at the various “Used and New” offers.

Happy shopping!

EDIT: While I’m at it I‘m also selling an autographed “Emperor’s New Groove” Kuzko maquette combined with an original drawing of Kuzko by Nik Ranieri. Better than a toasted plate of spinach puffs!

I’ve Been Interviewed On DesignMontage.com

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Design Montage logo

Australian designer Jenica Smith publishes designmontage.com, a website which brings together an eclectic mix of creative goodies from all corners of the internet – design, illustration, photography, animation, and the like. She’s just posted a short interview with me about my illustration work and career. I encourage all my blog readers to take a poke around the site. There’s some really neat stuff, and I’m very flattered to be included.

 

Why Every Artist Needs To See “The Artist”

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The Artist

A picture really is worth a thousand words.

Tonight I saw “The Artist”, a feature film getting a lot of buzz. It just won three Golden Globe including best film (musical or comedy) and some say it deserves an Oscar for Best Picture. I wouldn’t quite go that far but it is a very good film.

What’s makes “The Artist” especially remarkable is that it’s a black and white silent film. The soundtrack consists almost entirely of music and sound effects. On the rare occasion when characters do speak their dialogue is written out on old-timey title cards, just like a Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton film. I know that sounds awful but trust me, it works. In a way the absence of dialogue actually improves the film because all of the other storytelling devices have to work harder to pick up the slack. The actions have to be clearer, the acting more expressive, the editing sharper, and being forced to say everything with pictures alone makes for some very creative and compelling visuals.

As an illustrator I found “The Artist” to be a powerful reminder that a tremendous amount can be said simply and elegantly with pictures alone. The right poses, expressions, and body language can communicate great depth and feeling without saying a single word. The movie really inspired me to think more deeply about the power of my drawings to communicate, entertain, and even to move people. The next time I sit down to draw the film will still be reverberating in my mind, challenging me to think harder about how I can say more with my drawings.

If, like me, you make your living drawing pictures then you absolutely must see this film. Study it. Replay it in your mind. Especially if you work in storyboards, comics, animation, or other storytelling mediums.

Here’s the official trailer:

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2011 Highlights and Accomplishments

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Since tomorrow is the last day of 2011, I thought I’d take a moment to review some of the many highlights and accomplishments of my illustration studio over the past year:

 

Toy Design

  • I worked on a variety of toy design, packaging illustration, and presentation sketches for a major toy company to help relaunch one of their well-known brands. Unfortunately the confidentiality clause in my contract prohibits me from saying more, but it was a great deal of fun.
  • I sketched up some toy concepts for several licensed properties, including three upcoming feature films, for DecoPac Inc. Can’t wait until I can show those too.
  • Speaking of DecoPac, one of my toy designs for them won a silver award from the 2011 Play International Art Competition.
  • I created almost 100 illustrations for a series of preschool puzzles for Patch Products.
  • I designed a couple of educational toys for a manufacturer in China (another project I can’t show yet).

 

Advertising

  • I created marker comps for advertising agency Olson-Denali to pitch to Best Buy.
  • I assisted the uber-talented Sherwin Schwartzrock in a fun cartoon ad for Target and the Minnesota Twins.

 

Misc. Projects

  • I created some animation costume and prop designs for an upcoming VeggieTales DVD.
  • I was a courtroom sketch artist for two court cases, including the NFL/Players Union hearings. My sketches were shown nationally on MSNBC, ESPN, NNS, and the NFL Network.
  • I did a little animation for Phil Vischer’s “What’s In The Bible” project.
  • I launched the “March Is Sketchbook Month” blog (with a lot of help from my wife). Dozens of artists committed to creating sketches every weekday. Word spread and by the end of the month we received over 15,400 total page views.
  • Behind-the-scenes I hired a business coach and finally launched a brand new website.

 

Travel

  • Over the summer I traveled to Chicago for the Creative Freelancer Conference and to San Diego for Comic-Con.
  • I stayed put for the annual chapter gathering of the National Cartoonists Society, which was held right here in Minneapolis.
  • In November I flew to Los Angeles for the CTN Animation Expo where I gave a talk on freelancing.

 
On a personal note my wife became pregnant with our third child, yet another daughter due in March. I also joined a health club and we remodeled our kitchen—shaping up both house and body.

I’ve had an awful lot to be thankful for, and I’m eagerly looking forward to what 2012 has in store. Here’s wishing all my blog readers great success and joy in the coming year!

Merry Christmas To All!

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I want to take a moment to extend warm Christmas wishes to all my blog readers. I didn’t have time to put together a fancy Christmas promotional card or email this year (the image above is from last year) so this blog post will have to suffice. Here’s hoping your Christmas is filled with happiness and peace!

Speaking of Christmas, one of the things many people celebrate during the holiday is the birth of Jesus. Have you ever wondered just why Jesus being born was such a big deal? I mean, we don’t celebrate the birthdays of Mohammed or Buddha. And what’s with that whole “born of a virgin” thing anyway?

Glad you asked.

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Last year I was hired by a Christian ministry called Living Waters to produce a short animation that explains the basic Christian message, including why Jesus came. To date it has received over 300,000 views on YouTube and has been subtitled into over twenty languages. 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!

Welcome To My New Website & Blog

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After years of talking about it I finally hunkered down and built a shiny new website to showcase my illustration work. The “trusty rusty” site was six years old, which equals about 100 internet years. It looked old, it felt old, and it was getting a little cranky—it just wasn’t playing well with the search engines. It was time to send it to the old website home and bring in an energetic, fresh-faced, young hotshot website.

One of the biggest changes is that my old blog, which was previously hosted at wordpress.com, has now been rolled into this site. So all you loyal blog subscribers will have to update your RSS feeds. I know that’s a bit of a hassle and I apologize. One of the main purpose for having a blog is to increase visibility of my work and ultimately land new clients, so it just made sense to have the blog hosted right here side-by-side with my portfolio. It also gives me an extra incentive to make sure each blog post is worth your time and attention.

The site still needs a little tinkering. I’m still trying to decide on a logo and color scheme, and there are a few glitches in the blog, but for the most part it’s ready to strut it’s stuff. If you run into any problems while browsing or have any suggestions for improving the site please let me know. I’d be happy to hear from you.