Random Art Giveaway # 02 - BEBOP (acrylic & colored pencil on canvas paper)

For a while now, I've wanted to take a stab at stylizing some old cartoon characters, and TMNT was always on that list.  So I decided to take a crack at everyones favorite Pig... Bebop!
Its acrylic and colored pencil on canvas paper.  The proud new owner of this piece is none other than the TMNT flag waving fan, Kahl Drogo himself, Mr, Chris Silva.  It lasted approximately 22 seconds on the podium before he came stomping down the lane with rage in his eyes thinking someone may have already taken it.  Alas, it was there, and it is his now.  And all was happy in the land.  Hope ya like it dude.  Heres some process pics should you want to peruse.

On to the next one.... HUZZAH!

Love, 

Graham

First post in a Loooooong Time - RON BURGUNDY (acrylic on wood)

SWEET SASSAFRASS - I haven't posted in FOREVER. I'll try and remedy that.

 Well, when I'm not busy animating these days, I'm trying to do a lot more artwork. Drawing, Inking, Painting, etc. Trying different mediums and subjects and really just trying to get better!

 So, I've set up a little stand at my desk at work, on which, every once in a while, I'll put a piece that I've done up for grabs to go to a Good Home.

 First to snag it keeps it.  Simple as that.  Easy Peasy.  If they so wish, the new owner can leave a donation towards supplies for the next piece, but no strings attached.   Well, 1 string....  All I ask is that people send me a pic with whatever they do with it.

Piece #1
 I've always wanted to do caricatures of the Anchorman Cast, so here's a first attempt at Mr. Burgundy. Its acrylic on wood and painted on Rich Mahogany...stained wood.

 In the words of the man himself... I'm gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back. aaaaaaand it was snagged by Mr. Drew (Drewgie Howser) Winey!

Hope ya like it Dude!

On to the Next One!  HUZZAH!!!

-Love Graham

Well looky what we have here... My 2013 ShowReel!

Well, I haven't put one of these together in a few years, so here we go.  My 2013 ShowReel, with selected shots from my time thus far at Blue Sky.  Shots are from RIO, Ice Age 4, EPIC & the Teaser for RIO2.

GSilvaShowReel2013
ps.  Many thanks to my pal Jeff Gabor for helping edit this together for me.  You sir are good people!

-Pip Pip Cheerio, Graham

The Adorableness that is Pebbles Stone!

Wow its been forever and a day since I last posted anything.  I am Ashame.

This Chunky-Monkey is Pebbles Stone, my friend Deb's little Chihuahua.  Don't let her size fool you, she can be fierce!  She will growl at you until you pay respects by purchasing her friendship with a wealth of Carrot Treats.

BOW BEFORE me.... OOO CARROTS!

Until next post!

-Graham

Let me tell YOU.. about "Tell Her This"...

Hey Travelers,

For the good of your mortal souls, take a gander at this here short film.  A heartfelt, feel good yarn spun by some really damn fine people.  A lot of hard work was poured into this project and it turned out quite lovely!  Give it a viewing and please share with your friends.

Tell Her This - Short Film from Gregory Rizzi on Vimeo.

- Love Graham

Her majesty presents, Mr. David Sloss, Esq.

Heres another caricature, this time, of my friend and fellow cube-mate, The always Daper & Dignified,  Mr. David Sloss, Esq.  He's a damn fine animator, which would be bad enough, but couple that with his snappy dressing and posh British accent, and he seems to be on a plane above the rest of us.  That or the fact that he's like 8feet tall, that could be it.  Did I mention he drives a Mini.
Pip Pip Jolly Good Show sir.. WhatHO, would you look at that, its Tea Time. what.!!

Final Color

Rough Sketch

Until Next time then, Cheerio!

-Graham

A case of DEJA vu.

One of the many things I love about being part of the Blue Sky Anim Team is hearing from some fantastic guest speakers.  A few weeks back, one such presentation was given by none other than Mr. Andreas Deja  (http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/).  Needless to say, for the entire team, it was pretty GeekTastic.  Andreas spoke for about an hour about his beginnings, his life in animation, and insights on being part of some really amazing films.  Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King to name but a few.  He delved into his thought process on creating/designing characters like Aladdin's sinister villain Jafar, using video clips and drawing live on screen for us all to see.  It was super inspiring!

After the talk, he was kind enough to hang around a while, take some photos, and chat with some of us animators.  I took the opportunity to thank him for his work, as some of the films he had a big part in 

( Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin & The Lion King specifically ) had a great influence on me artistically.  

All in all he was a super nice guy, who kept us all enthralled with great tales of animation wonder.     

Thanks again Andreas!

Heres a couple pics taken of us after the talk.  The first is the original shot, where Mr. Matt Doble sidled on up as the pic was being taken, and Andreas said, "No Problem".. then looked at me and said, "We can just crop him out later".  The "Cropped" image is there too, but we all had a good laugh at the comment, so I added em both!  High five Doble!

Awesomesauce!

-Love Graham

    

Thou shalt heed the Siren's Call...!

I had the privilege of being a co-character lead with Mr. Matt Doble on the Siren characters in IA4!  They were only a small sequence in the film but were tonnes of fun to work on.  I hope they gave people some laughs.

Mr. Patrik Puhala approached me the other day about doing a drawing for his little Niece.. or was it Cousin.. anyway...  he wanted some of the artists here at work to do some sketches to give to her as a present.  So hey, I thought Id draw the Sirens.  Here were a couple I whipped up.  He chose the first one.  I hope she liked it.

                             

...And heres my next attempt at some digital painting....  Slowly but surely, I shall learn how the hell to do this!  As always, Tips n Tricks welcome.  These were done in Alias Sketchbook Pro.

 

I got me a Scratchy!!!

... and not the kind you get from a drunken night out in Tijuana!  But rather an award from the awesome Directors of Ice Age 4, in which I not only animated, but was the Scratch dialogue voice of the villainous Captain Gutt!  If you don't know what "Scratch" dialogue is, its the voice track thats used as placeholder for editorial before the final voice is recorded.  I prefer to think of it as being Peter Dinklage's understudy really :P

It was a blast to get in the booth and let my Pirate Flag Fly!  Thanks Mike, Steve and the Editorial Crew!

YAAAAAARR!!

-Love Graham

ICE BERG.. RIGHT AHEAD!!!

Well, maybe not right ahead.. but Darn close!  Like...  July 13th close!  Me and some of the greatest animators I've ever had the privilege of working with have poured our blood, sweat & beers into this here flick and I hope you enjoy it!  Heres one of the many trailers/tv spots that are floating around the interwebs.  Keep yer eyes peeled... theres a Scrat shot I worked on at 1:55.. don't blink or you'll miss it.



-Love Graham

He's Gonna WRECK IT!!!

So, theres this small, artsy, independent studio called The Walt Disney Animation Studios.. Maybe you've heard of 'em.  Well, there making this new movie called Wreck It Ralph, and it looks pretty awesome!  Heres the trailer for it!



I'm pretty stoked to see it, so a hearty high five to Isaak, Hobbie, Nathan, Paul, Brian, Bobby H, Benson, and Bobby P and all the other artists that poured their blood, sweat n tears into this.

ps..   That Zombie is freakin' awesome!

I was inspired by this trailer do a caricature in the spirit of Ralph.. so I give you "Break IT Bobby".

Well, thats.. uh.. thats all I got....  TOODLES!

-Love Graham

A New Caricature... Mr. Patrik Puhala.

Well.. Now that the Ice Age 4 train is slowing into the station, I hope to find more time to play with my new Cintiq, and get around to posting more! Ive really been wanting to learn how to do some digital painting/coloring, so bear with me.. the first lot may be pretty rough. Any tips, tricks, advice, or critique is more than welcome! Be gentle though.. Im a crier.

My cubical neighbor at work is none other than the recently Annie Award nominated Patrik Puhala. Man oh man can that guy animate! I did a doodle of him during sweatbox dailies, and that turned into another one, and then Melvin Tan did his draw over version, and then that melded into a final one. Here they are.

One of the first editions...

... Mr. Melvin Tan's slightly aged up version :P ...

... By our Powers Combined we give you .... Patrik!!!

... and lastly, my first attempt at some Painting ... lets call it an ode to Mr. Pontillas' wicked style!

Well, lets hope with hours returning to normal, that this is the first of many new updates.. you know... for any of you that are actually seeing this :P

-Love Graham

Graham - Pont-ified once again!

So Bobby is spending his downtime catching up on all of his Blue Sky Caricatures. Here is his AWESOME one of yours truly! Upon posting it, he immediately sent me a message to assure me that he knows I am on Weight Watchers and am slimming down, but thought the drawing represented me better like this. What I heard was..... Graham.... try all you want.. but you were a Fatty once, and you will always be a Fatty to me! Nice Bobby.... Nice. :P

- Love Graham

Caricatures.. yet again!

First off we have the lovely Kim Chase, who recently departed the Blue Sky halls for a new position at Pepsi! All the best Kim!

Then we have Mr. Bert "Let them Love" Chung. Cooooooool.

and finally Glen "I am the best at everything ever" Young. Seriously... When I first met Glen, we was so chill.. then we started a Bsky Foosball tournament, and his true colors came a shining through. He became an Animal! He could give Monica Gellar a run for her money :P

Thanks for stopping by.

- Love Graham

Bobby P wants to be Part of thaaat Wooorrrrld!!!

My good buddy Bobby is leaving us and heading off to hang with Glen Keane and the Mouse! Thats right, Mr. P is fulfilling a life long dream and joining the Disney Ranks. My hats off to him and I hope its everything he's dreamed of and more. Im sure he'll learn a tonne! Good Luck Brotha, you shall be missed amongst these here Bsky halls. Mama Roneck and Neneh Cherry send their regards!

-Love Graham

Pontillas' Pics back for Round 2!

Below is the latest Grab-Bag of random doodles that Mr. P felt should be posted, rather than binned.

Two of our most recently departed animators, Mr. Bobby Huth & Mr. Brian Menz. Both very talented dudes who have decided to share their mad skills with the good folks over at Disney.

Whilst listening to the soothing melodies of Pantera, I sketched this quick Dimebag riffin' pose.

Some random man face...

... Derp y derp ...

Im not sure who this is supposed to be, but man is he uuuugly.

Thanks Bobby P! More to come.

-Love Graham

A Few More Blue Sky Caricatures.

Here are some more caricatures of some of my fellow Blue Sky Cohorts.

Mr. Pete Paquette, who recently jumped ship for a tour of duty in the Video Game world. We miss you Jerk!

A lovely lady I had the pleasure of sitting with for a while, Mrs, Carolyn Kaiser. She's been learning the Guitar.. hence the .. .. Guitar.

and here is Mr, Ken Kaiser. Officially the Happiest person on the face of the planet! Seriously, Im about 98% certain that you could punch him right in the throat and we would not only take it with a smile, but thank-you and give you a hug. Not that you would ever want to do that.. hes just too darn Nice!

... some Ken pre-drawings...

and a couple of quick planning sketches of the one and only, Mr. Jimothy Jackson!
... He once worked at Disney!

These caricatures probably don't look much like their subjects.. unless of course you don't know them.. then they are Spot-ON!

-Love Graham