Mo' Po Sketches (Kung Fu Panda) 2003

My work on KFP was mostly in the early months of production. (Hence the no-pants drawings of Po.) As I recall, it was during those early months that Po's personality began to take shape thanks largely to the work of story man Jed Diffenderfer.

Random Story Sketches (Kung Fu Panda) 2003

At the time I drew these sketches I was working on 1/4 size panels(approx. 5"x3"). Working small with a medium Sharpie forced me to leave out unnecessary detail and saved time by decreasing line mileage. When I enlarged the panels for the pitch the bold lines and simple compositions read clearly from across the room.

Rough Po Sketches (Kung Fu Panda) 2003

It's very gratifying to find out that your story sketches played a role in informing the design of the character. KFP director, John Stevenson said that it was my story sketches of Po that inspired him to undertake a re-design of the character. He asked me to take a couple of days to do some random poses and expressions for the designers. This is a sampling of those. Of course, it was the great Nico Marlet who did the final designs for the movie. Note: These were drawn with a medium Sharpie and toned with Prismacolor pencil. No digital drawing here.

Rhino Pilot

Some of my colleagues here at DWA started a daily quick-sketch exercise. It works like this: Someone comes up with a prompt (e.g. Rhino Pilot), then we all do a sketch and post it on our respective blogs that same day. I doubt I'll be able to keep up with it daily, but I'll give it a shot.

More Model Sheets from Darkwing Duck Series (1991)

Gosalyn was the spunky 9-year-old tomboy adopted by Drake Mallard (a.k.a. Darkwing Duck). She was voiced by the talented Christine Cavanaugh who brought a lot of charm and energy to the character.

Launchpad was a carry over from the legendary Ducktales Series and was designed by Skip Morgan. I merely adapted Skip's design to fit into the Darkwing world and added some extra poses and expressions. Sort of a style adjustment, I guess.

Random Story Sketches (Princess and the Frog) 2008

These are random sketches from the movie in no particular order.

Ray and Tiana searching for Naveen during Mardi Gras.

Louis leading a band toward the Mardi Gras parade.

Louis asks Ray to check his tail, "Is it bleeding?!"

Tiana thinks Naveen betrayed her and is inconsolable.

Ray is visibly wounded when Tiana tells him that his beautiful Evangeline is just a star, not a firefly.

Mama Odie's Song (Princess and the Frog) 2008

These sketches are from an early version of Mama Odie's song from Princess and the Frog. The song was originally a little gospel diddy called, Turn On The Light. Paul Briggs and I teamed up on the sequence depicting a "church service" in the black southern tradition with a choir of spoonbills in the background and various swamp critters acting as the congregation. The song was eventually rewritten as You Gotta Dig A little Deeper which ended up in the movie. Working with Paul was the highlight of my time on that movie.

Princess and the Frog (Mama Odie) 2008

 

These are some rough explorations for Mama Odie the blind voodoo priestess in Princess and the Frog. My next post will be story sketches from an early incarnation of Mama Odie's song sequence.