What I Drew Saturday, Oct 16 - Disney Parks

Day No. 16

Here’s the finale of the series: the final four of the 50 Disney Parks themed sketches done in this Disneyland autograph book. For the last three sketches, I choose to double pull the character prompts, just to squeeze out the last bits of goodness amongst the suggestions.

#47, pp. 94-95 - Flynn and Rapunzel / in Mickey’s PhilharMagic / taking shots/drinking: @alltookayleigh / @yooo_gert / @the_kira_diaries

How fortunate that the “Be Our Guest” sequence is part of the “PhilharMagic” show and thus “drinking” isn’t entirely disconnected. Donald still chases the magic sorcerer’s hat.

3x hidden Mickeys.

#48, pp. 96-97 - SMRT-1 / Roger Rabbit and Jessica Rabbit / helping paint the castle: @jayrodesign / @rod_j_sloan / Nicole P.

I don’t know if it reads well, but they’re standing on scaffolding. 

When selecting a part of Cinderella Castle on which to feature I at least wanted one of the cone shaped turret roofs because I thought that would communicate “castle.”  Beyond that, I thrusted that there would be enough wall area for the characters to paint with the pinkish, iridescent coating.

3x hidden Mickeys.

#49, pp. 98-99 - Orange Bird / Sora from Kingdom Hearts / at Festival of the Lion King: @fletchthis / @yooo_gert / @jessiemind

I chose a wide shot to convey the “staged show” idea. Without something or some one in the close up space, it lack the dynamics of depth, and maybe then lacks visual interest. It does expose my unwillingness to fill the scene with a lot more of the cast in this penultimate sketch of the series.

3x hidden Mickeys.

#50, pp. 100-101 - Mickey and Minnie / the Hitchhiking Ghosts / Magic Kingdom hub / sharing the Kitchen Sink sundae: Jeff S. / @realmarkd / Jeff S / Nicole P.

Oh boy! A party for the final sketch of the series! 

Since there are two different specialty “kitchen sink” designs, I thought to use them both and then there’d be enough sundaes for everybody. 

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are dressed in their 50th anniversary outfits.

The hub (a.k.a. the Plaza) is represented by in being the area in front of Cinderella Castle.

2x hidden Mickeys.

What I Drew for Disneyland’s Birthday – Day 6

Albert and the mysterious music box.
Mystic Manor, Hong Kong Disneyland

2x hidden Mickeys.
Easter Eggs: Kida’s staff (The Emperor’s New Groove), Bust of Zeus (Hercules), model of Kuzcotopia (The Emperor’s New Groove); Fa Zou’s sword (Mulan).

 

Mickey and Minne at
Videopolis, Disneyland

2x hidden Mickeys.
Easter Eggs: Powerline (A Goofy Movie), Gosalyn and Honker (Darkwing Duck), Penny Proud (The Proud Family)

 

A mashup at the Haunted Mansion
featuring (front L-R) Miguel, Dante, mummy,
Mama Imelda, Hector, “ear cone” ghost, 2x lonesome ghosts.
 (back L-R) 2x Fa family ancestors,
“Hatbox” ghost, Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi.

2x hidden Mickeys.
Easter Egss: 2 ghosts from the short The Lonesome Ghosts.

 Miguel, Dante, Mama Imelda & Hector from Disney/Pixar’s Coco.

Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi as Force ghosts from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

The Fa Family ancestors from Mulan.

The mummy, “ear cone” ghost and the “Hatbox” ghost from the Haunted Mansion attraction.

The suggestion box is closed for July 7.

You have now until 5:00pm EDT (2:00 PDT) July 7th, to pitch suggestions inspired by your favorite Disney Parks things and characters for consideration to be my last sketch of the day - here in the comments.

Above is a handy checklist to help you help me avoid repeating things I've already drawn and included in the book.

What I Drew for Disneyland’s Birthday - Day 3

(L to R) Henry, Sammy, Melvin, Buff & Max
Country Bear Jamboree,
Magic Kingdom, WDW.

1x hidden Mickey

Mistake: Melvin’s and Max’s name plates are swapped.

 

Kids (“Tagalong” Sis, Toby and Skippy) conducting the Band,
Minnie the Bandleader,
Main Street, U.S.A., Disneyland

2x hidden Mickeys.

Easter Egg: the band lineup is inspired by the opening animation to The Mickey Mouse Club (1955).

 

R2D2 and C-3PO under Spaceship Earth,
Epcot, WDW.

1x hidden Mickey.

Easter eggs: Background characters include Lewis and Wilbur (Meet the Robinsons), the Mandalorian and child, and Wasabi, Honey-Lemon; Hiro, Baymax, GoGo and Fred (Big Hero 6).

 

Mickey, Main Street balloon vendor.
Disneyland

1x hidden Mickey.

Featuring: Minnie Mouse and her twin nieces, Milly and Melody.

 

Aladdin and friends learn to draw Mickey Mouse.
Animation Academy, The Magic of Disney Animation,
Disney-MGM Studios Park (Disney’s Hollywood Studios).

1x hidden Mickey.

Featuring also: Jasmine, Genie and the Sultan.

 

The suggestion box for July 4 is now closed.

You have until 5:00pm EDT (2:00 PDT) July 4th to pitch sketch suggestions inspired by you favorite Disney Parks things for consideration to be my last sketch of the day - here in the comments.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 90th Birthdays to Mickey and Minnie

Legendarily created by the combined the storytelling genius of Walt Disney and the sure hand of animator Ubbe Iwerks, Mickey and and Minnie are not only true American creations, but also linked with the birth and growth of Hollywood beginning with their 1928 premiere in the first American animated short with sound, “Steamboat Willie.” It is that Hollywood connection that inspired me to take cues from George Hurrell’s classic portrait photography of Hollywood stars to created these two portraits of the eternally youthful Mouse and his leading lady. Each were created as contributions to Disney’s “Art of” collections for each individual character. Minnie’s volumes was released in 2015, and Mickey’s this year, 2018.

Today, is the 90th anniversary of “Steamboat Willie” and by Disney standards the coincidental 90th birthdays of Mickey and Minnie!

Merely as a result of the respective individual projects schedules, Minnie’s image was first called upon to coincide with a “Rock the Dots” promotion. Plainly evident in my developmental pencils sketch is my intention for her to smile. However, I decided during the digitally painting process that a more introspective expression better fit the Hurrell aesthetic.

Although the polka dots on her dress were roughly plotted in the sketch, ultimately a pattern of dots was digitally stretched over her dress. The dress itself is only appropriate for fashion/ glamour photography with its extreme length panned specifically to fill the picture frame. I did want to ensure that it appeared that her dress was long and that her legs were not equally elongated.

With “The Art of Mickey Mouse” collection organized two years following the Minnie Mouse collection, I purposefully wanted to make something that would be a companion to the Minnie image. I spent a bit of time figuring out how to fill the frame when I couldn’t dress Mickey in pants of exaggerated length. Hurrell’s photography provided the answer with the use of set pieces to create interesting compositions, although I was neither referencing any specific Hurrell portrait nor anything specific from Mickey’s filmography. Here, stair steps drawn in perspective enhanced by the interplay of shadows from a low-set lighting source create an interesting geometric pattern that contrasts with the circular motifs found in Mickey’s design. The subtle palm tree shadow is a Hollywood nod.

So why go with the exaggerated tall image frames when the standard portrait photograph is 8-inches wide by 10 inches tall? I went with the proportions of a rectangle that is 11 units wide by 28 units tall, which alludes to 11/28 (November 1928). Playing the numbers game, 11 x 28 is just more dramatic than 11 x 18 (November 18).

Happy Birthday, Mickey!

Happy Birthday Minnie!

The Joker of the Club Made for You and Me

Color pencil and black ink on Bristol Board.  

6.35 cm x 8.89 cm (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)

2016

From a suggestion submitted during one of my “What Shall I Draw Today?” sessions, this DC Comics / Disney mash-up was one of the top 9 liked posts on my Instagram, @monstergram7

As some mash-up ideas come to be, this is The Batman villains The Joker and Harley Quinn dressed as Disney’s perennial Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse I’ve drawn more or less in the style of early seasons Batman: The Animated Series animated TV series (1992).

At least Harley’s red, black and white costume could accommodate Minnie’s often seen white polka dots on red motif. With The Joker, he’s pretty much unchanged except for Mickey ears and a tuxedo color close to Mickey’s of the Disney theme parks.

I think these two dressed this way looks like it could have been a visual gag or Easter Egg snuck into an episode.

[The Top 9 of 2016]

monstergram7 - September & October 2016

Postings on my my Instagram feed, monstergram7, in the months of September and October were bolstered respectively by the year’s last “What Shall I Draw Today?” session and then by Inktober themed posts doubled by final color versions.

November and December ought to normalize to my 6 post per week pace, hopefully featuring more peeks of the in-production issue #3 of Unstoppable Tuff-Girl.

You can check out monstergram7 here:
https://www.instagram.com/monstergram7/

The Art of Minnie Mouse

 I am very pleased to have my contribution make it in the pages of this new art book, The Art of Minnie Mouse.

The Art of Minnie Mouse

Disney Editions

available of Amazon September 27, 2016

Minnie Mouse embodies a constant reminder to girls of all ages-including grown-ups!-to live confidently and express themselves. In The Art of Minnie Mouse, Disney artists, designers, illustrators, and animators from around the world reimagine their favorite Minnie styles and portray them in a variety of mediums. Minnie's earliest incarnation, her classic red polka-dot look, and trendy modern styles are all newly incarnated in water color, pastel, oil paint, colored pencil, mixed media, and computer graphics pieces that range from the traditional to the unconventional. The book also features a never-before-published comprehensive filmography of Minnie's animated appearances as well as a visual timeline of her career milestones.

My tall piece pays homage to the Hollywood portraits of George Hurrell (1904-1992) because Minnie (and Mickey) splashed on the silver screen in the early days of the motion pictures.

[a sampling of more found on Instagram]