August 2005

:8.18.2005 - A new blog.

I made a new blog with wordpress. It's over here. Please update your bookmarks and links if possible, I will be posting there from now on.

 

::8.17.2005 - Sad Sad news.

Joe Ranft, the heart of Pixar, was killed yesterday in a car accident. We are all hit hard by this sudden news and we're all beyond sadness here at the studio. Joe's contribution to Animation has been immense and far reaching. He taught and mentored a whole generation of creators, I can't even begin to describe how dearly he will be missed. His spirit and legacy will live on through the hundreds of stories that are being told and will be told by all the artists and directors he mentored and inspired. A prayer from all our community goes to his family.

E

update: Ronnie's wonderful remembrances and many touching comments from friends are HERE.

 

    

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::8.07.2005 - SketchCrawl 4

 

So ... the next World Wide SketchCrawl (#4) is scheduled! Saturday August 27th it is and it's gonna be in memory of our talented friend Dan Lee, we miss him dearly and we thought it'd be great to go about town and draw away thinking about him ... he was an avid sketcher himself and I am sure he would've joined us Skechcrawling around. On that same week The Canvas Gallery and Cafe is gonna host an exhibition/tribute (thursday August 25th) featuring Dan's sketches and some of his friends' work as well. The artshow also serves as a book launch for "In your face" a beautiful book filled with Dan's drawings, don't miss it, the proceedings will go to charity. Check this blog for all the details.
So ... we plan to finish the crawl at Canvas to see the exhibition, plans and itinerary for the day are still in the making ... keep posted on sketchcrawl.com for details. As always we welcome all your help in spreading the word and be sure to come by the forums to organize and gather artists in your area. Join us in the 4th international drawing marathon, wherever you are!

The 2 weeks I just spent in Italy were relaxing and fun. It's been a long long time since I got back home during summer time ... it really has a whole different feel, much more nostalgic than usual. The summers of my childhood are clearer and sweeter memories than most. I was very thankful to have time for family, beautiful beaches, sand and waters and also time to read. A couple of books I finished and would heartily recommend: Dave Eggers - You shall know our velocity! and Banana Yoshimoto - Hard boiled and Hard Luck. A book I bought and look forward to reading: Takeshi Kitano - Asakusa Boy (a biography of the famous comedian and filmmaker. In italian, not sure if it's available in english).

E

PS - One link I forgot to write about regarding the CON. Emotioneric.com ... one of our neighbors at the booth, Eric has a unique and funny as hell website ... and, ahem, face as well. Also one new and not to be missed CON report from Kean, here.

 

::Dawn from a ship

 

::Barca a Nervi

 

:: Cinquecento

 

    

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::8.04.2005 -

Ok, Phew, quite the July I must say.

I just got back from a nice vacation in Italy which coupled with the San Diego Comic-Con has made for a real nice break for me. So forgive me for the delay on the CON report, but I was pretty much out of civilazation's arms on the amazing beaches of Sardegna.
So wow, so much to catch up with ... well, first: what a Con! I had the greatest time in San Diego this year, thanks to all the friends and colleagues that were down there with us.

Ronnie and I drove down together in his van on tuesday and that started the week with the right spirit, it was great to chat all the way down from SF.
The whole week had a special something about it ... there were so many friends to hang out and share the experience with this year. Our friends and colleagues the e-ville press guys, whose books I am sure you've heard plenty about by now ... well having them in San Diego experiencing their first Con was really great to witness. Sanjay, Manisha, Robert, Simon, Louis, Marc, Nate, Max and Kevo. It was also great to hang out with some of the Maverix crew Jamie Baker , Bosco, Sho Murase and Derek Thompson. And at our table all the Flight crew: Kazu, Kean, Johanne and company. we also shared space with longtime friends Bill Presing and Alex Woo (the nazi smashers you know) and even onemanstudio and animation celebrity Bill Plympton. Oh and let's not forget Nucleus Gallery's Ben and company with the ton of great prints and irresistible t-shirts.
I mean the list of good friends, nice people, talented artists just goes on ... it'd be hard to mention everyone. But, it's just amazing to have so many friends to which is so easy to relate to and have great conversations with; comics and animation seem to attract only nice people, weird.
Also Ronnie and I had a little less table space this year. That simple fact gave us more freedom to go about the con floor and overall made for a much more relaxing experience.
Good nights, late nights, yep. I remember Tequila shots ... the rest if blurry. X)
Many thanks to Ronnie who manned the table a couple of those difficult early mornings!
So, yeah, all good ... oh, Sketchcrawling sold quite well and got great responses from many readers, artists and friends, which is always the best part. Considering that Ronnie and I had started off thinking we might sit this con out, well I'd say it sure was a nice surprise to cook up a book each and to end up showing up having such a good time. Maybe we should always do this ... yeah, I think we're not going next year fellas ...
;)
As always I didn't take as many photos as I would've liked down there, but I am sure many of you have checked the reports by now. Here's links to a few if you haven't: Ronnie's, E-ville's, drawing board thread, Ted's, Marc's and Jamie's.

Anyway, I took lot's of photos on my trip to Italy, which I just got off of a plane from. What a nice trip, I spent some time with my family in Genova and then headed on to the beautiful beaches of Sardegna's Emerald Coast with my brother's family. Pretty sweet. Bellissimo.
I even did a new comic on the ferry on my way to the Island, haven't watercolored it yet, but I hope to share the disadventures of "A night on a ferry" real soon. Another highlight from the trip has been a wonderful and large exhibition of Yukio-e woodblock prints and modern posters from Japan in Genova.
I hope to tell you more in details regarding the trip as I share more photos with you.

So, arriverderci, for now.

E

 

::Our table ...

 

::Kean, Kazu and Kohanne - I mean, Johanne. X)

 

::Tough guys. (from left: Alex Woo, Simon Dunsdon, Bill Presing, Robert Kondo (rapping) and Louis Gonzales)

 

::Breakfast with our homies ... X)

 

 

 

:: Uhmmm ... coffeeeee

 

    

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I like to share some bits and pieces of my life and I have come to love photography as a medium to convey some of the daily ups and downs of it. The mood conveyed by the photos is often intertwined with my life's happenings. I think there's something in there that it's worth sharing ... take a look ... read on ... and please use the comment option and share your thoughts.
cheers

E

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