Jim Valeri Design

Minnie Liberty Oil Painting

2012-01-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas.

Squirrel!

2012-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

This was for our head of IT as a thank you to some folks who worked some big project. I love Dug from UP. He reminds me of my own Golden Retriever Toby.

Handy Manuel

2012-01-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

I floated this product concept in my first week at TDS...but Handy Manny was already on the decline from a toy sales perspective so there was no appetite to spend the money on the tooling to make this happen.

Pixie Paint

2012-01-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

This was a little experiment I did over the weekend using oil color on a coated cardboard surface that I have only used for pastels in the past. I like the vibrancy that you can get with it and I wanted to explore the transparency of Tink's wings. It's always a challenge to paint something like this without any reference, so one has to guess about the hues, values and lightplay...it was fun though.

Neato Keane

2012-01-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

What's that Ariel sketch all about you ask? Oh nothing, just a little something that GLEN KEANE drew for me when he was visiting TDS a couple of weeks ago! That's right, the one and only GK.

He is such an amazing guy...very humble and gracious. Glen is a true gentleman and an inspiring story teller in conversation as well as with a pencil. He gave us some awesome insights to what it was like to work with several of the Nine Old Men. For instance, he told us that Ollie Johnson once told him not to animate what the character is doing, but to animate what the character is thinking.

When he came by, the sketches below were hanging in my cubicle. I did them a couple of years ago while sitting in Jury Duty. He told me he really liked them and said they reminded him of Ariel. As I recall, I actually did have her in mind, but I was just trying to draw a contemporary young girl with no reference in front of me at the time.

He spent a couple of hours with us creative types at TDS and was very generous in doing unbelievable drawings for us of several of his creations such as Ariel, Tarzan and Beast.
I informed him that besides both being incredibly handsome brutes, we have something else in common...we both have the same gardener! Salustrio has been doing both of our yards for 15 years...I think Glen's yard may be a little bigger than mine....just a guess.

Immortalized

2012-01-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

Bryan Mon is one of these genius types that can draw like a mad man and work out some hairy trigonometry problem at the same time. He is truly talented. We worked together back at Disney Consumer Products in the nineties as well as at Cartoon Network more recently. He has been working on a fantastic comic book called "Unstoppable Tuff-Girl" for awhile and now the first issue is in print.

I have been honored to be caricatured as a conniving boardwalk magician named "Volaire"
and my partner in crime is none other than my lovely wife "Ana Cara." (Kara)

Bryan and I haven't seen each other in about three years, so he
drew me as he remembers me, with longer...ahem...blonder....hair and much more than I actually currently possess. Kara pretty much still looks the way he drew her.
Thanks Bryan!

Heart Times

2011-12-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

These were done for a Valentine's Day program this past year. I wanted to go for a funky retro look so I wasn't going for completely "on model" character art here. I came up with the super sappy editorial for each one myself. I was hoping that actual cards would be made but alas....

Some of this work was never used as far as I know. A few items were made from the Mickey and Minnie piece below.

John Huston

2011-12-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

I did this in 1987. I didn't even know who famed Director John Huston was at the time, but I loved the wrinkles in his face and had to fulfill some pointless, self-abusive desire to draw in graphite at 20"x24"

I looked for the source image online to see if his nose was actually that asymmetrical and screwed up. I couldn't find it but based on other reference, it clearly wasn't....sorry John. RIP.

Croc Breath

2011-12-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

This was a piece I did back in school. I just found it in the garage and added a little editorial.
It was done with Prismacolor Pencils on Color-Aid paper which was a favorite technique I employed for awhile in the days before Photoshop existed. The paper has a bit of a "tooth" and the pencils just take very nicely to that surface. I clearly didn't have the patience to do a better job on the label at the time.

Cold Water

2011-11-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

I did these as an exploration for some women's adult trend items we were conceptualizing at TDS. Unfortunately, they didn't fly with the merchants... I dunno, I think they're decent....oh well. They were digitally executed in Painter 12 which now has some pretty convincing watercolor brushes.

A Pooh in the Darkness

2011-10-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

This was derived from a sculpture I did a few years ago. It looks pretty moody for a silly ol' bear.

Snow Globe

2011-09-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

One from the archives....
This was one view of a control drawing for a snowglobe I designed for The Disney Store back in the 90's.
I have the actual piece in a box somewhere in my garage. It came out really nice but it ended up weighing like 32lbs.

Some Mean Calamari

2011-08-27T00:48:00.000-07:00

Mickey Stars & Stripes 9" NYC Exclusive Vinylmation

2011-07-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

Despite all of the bickering over the raising of the nation's debt ceiling. Aside from the political posturing and podium pounding....somewhere in this great, bountiful land of ours....Liberty....sniff....still reigns.....and it's right here, on this 9" Vinylmation available only at Disney's Times Square Store!

Yo! Taxi!

2011-07-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is a sweet pic my friend and co-worker Enrique Pita took of my 3" Times Square Exclusive Vinylmation while he was in NYC last week. I think it's a rather nice little image. I airbrushed in the headlights...I wish they actually had LED's in them....that would be sick (as the kids say)

Exclusive Disney Store Vinylmation Robots Coming Next Week!

2011-07-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

....did a little "commercial" this morning.

Sketch

2011-06-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

This started out as a little spontaneous doodle on Sketchbook Pro that I tried to turn into a drawing....and ruined it.

What the Helvetica?

2011-05-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

A few months back I watched this documentary on Netflix called "Helvetica."
That's right. Who woulda thunk that an entire full length doc on a font
would be riveting entertainment?
I was so inpired that I designed this Mickey Mouse with nothing but Helvetica characters.

Oh D-dd-ddd-dear!

2011-05-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is a hand painted Vinylmation figure I did for a fine lady in our HR Dept. I wanted to do something a little bit unexpected when I was told her favorite character was Piglet. So I turned the form upside down to get a totally different expression. In this exercise, I learned what atrocious hand skills I have and was reminded that there is no [command z] on a real paintbrush.

GooGoo

2011-04-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

Themed soft crib toy concepts from a few years back...

Another one from the Archives

2011-03-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

I can't remember what this was for. I'm thinking it was a coin bank maybe....possibly a shampoo bottle.... I dunno. Neither would have worked practically based on the proportions and undercuts here. Nevertheless, I actually always enjoyed doing 3D turns like this. It was always a mental challenge to think around the form and describe something that doesn't exist (except in your head) in as much detail as possible.

Snow White's hood

2011-03-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

This was an illustration that was commissioned when we were developing assets for The Princess Toddler Dolls at DCP Toys a few years back.. We wanted to describe the kind of world that a young Snow White would have lived in if we had seen her at that age. I did the layout and if I recall, we had Al White Studio's (no relation to Snow White) do the painting. The castle in the distance represents her destiny as a Princess.

Muttles

2011-03-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

This was an idea for an anthropomorphic, character based metal detector. The idea was to get little kids interested in something that we currently only see old men in sandals and black dress socks engaging in. When I was a kid, I had a metal detector & I loved that thing! When you don't have a dime, it's an epic event when you find one. With silver at $36/oz. and gold at $1400/oz. this puppy could quickly pay for itself.
The concept went nowhere of course, but I still think it's a good idea...any entrepreneurs out there?

Sign of the Pooh

2011-02-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

I designed this sign a few years ago for a Winnie the Pooh attraction in WDW, Orlando. Disneyland eventually built the same ride out here as well.

Why I oughta.....

2011-02-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

This was a piece done in Prismacolor pencil on olive Color-aid paper many moons ago when I had patience and before the internet when our collective attention span could endure sitting at one task for dozens of hours on end. Let's face it, we all have ADD now thanks to technology. It takes 30 seconds to cook a hot dog in the microwave and at 18 seconds I'm tapping my foot in anticipation....oh, the human condition. Gotta run!

Dread Snorkenveasil

2011-01-29T07:39:00.000-08:00

This is a word cloud image based on a poem I wrote about an imaginary critter called a Snorkenveasil.

Here's the text I put in the generator:

As I walked down the path in the half light of dawn

Something lay still on the curb by my lawn

As I stealthily stepped in range of my find

It looked like a Snorkenveasil (of the carnivorous kind!)

I crept ever closer to the motionless beast

It was a rare sight on which my eyes did now feast

I had read of such things in school by the ream

But to see one up close I never would dream….

Oh a Flarn, a Bolopsnick, a Gnorf or a Driss-

But a Snorkenveasil-Wow! Imagine my bliss!

It’s form long and dewy and sadly deceased

As I stared at its features my interest increased

The snout was long & pointy and quilled…

A definite advantage in sniffing its kill

The oblong eyes on the side of its head spoke of

Peripheral vision; he was a predator to dread

A bullwhip-like tail and such razor sharp claws

If it were living would give a man pause

I thought to myself, “what a trophy to show!

I must have it stuffed or on my floor as a throw…

….but now here I lay flesh torn to shreds

for I never knew Snorkenveasils play dead!

Fraggle Rock

2011-01-24T18:50:00.000-08:00

I wasn't really a Fraggle Rock watcher in the 80's but apparently there was a fairly significant following at the time. I did these a couple of years ago for Jim Henson Co. in addition to a style guide and tried to capture that period with these simple T-shirt concepts. They wanted an eco-friendly twist on a few of them...

FT&PD

2011-01-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

The image above is for an internal global contest of sorts at the Disney Store that was to focus on Tinker Bell. I only had a couple of hours before the deadline to get something in and this was my offering. Amazingly, somebody suggested that her Magic wand, no doubt still billowing after some amazing feat, was too reminiscent of a cigarette...thus it won't end up on any product. Phooey! I refuse to change it. Political correctness be damned.

Bust

2011-01-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

I was trolling some art sites awhile ago and was inspired by some great caricatures by Jason Seiler so I thought I'd practice with Zbrush and see if I could try to knock one out. I still don't have the skills to do a finished, totally realistic sculpt, but it was a fun 3 hour exercise.

Donald's Little Gift

2011-01-10T00:58:00.000-08:00

I did this for our in store Christmas Campaign this past Holiday. I did a bunch more along these lines that ended up on mugs and ornaments and such...but this piece still kind of tickles me.

All Aboard the Dinosaur Train!

2011-01-09T00:31:00.000-08:00

My wife Kara & I did a couple of Style Guides for Jim Henson a couple of years ago before I re-joined Disney. This is a small sampling of it. The art you see here was executed in Adobe Illustrator......yep...that's what I said.....Illustrator.
I had to get really familiar with the gradient mesh tool! It was a fun project and I think the show is still doing pretty well for Henson on PBS. Why wouldn't it? Dinosaurs and trains? All they need to add are some race cars and spaceships with heavily armed trash talking mutant alien zombies and Ba-Boom! Boy Heaven!

2010-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a painting of Malcolm Muggeridge who, in addition to being an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist...was just a really interesting guy. I have a few of his books and find his insights pretty profound and witty.
This was done for a great site that Steven Gettis founded called "heyoscarwilde" where he has compiled some unbelievable art from some pretty heavy weight folks in the art world. It's all inspired by literary figures, characters, authors, etc.
I'm honored (and puzzled) that Steven kept on encouraging me to contribute....tenacious fellow that he is!

Ruff Sketch

2010-09-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

This is my dog, Toby. He is a good boy. He likes squeak toys and crackers.
He needs a bath right now. He is a good boy.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force-7 DVD Cover

2010-09-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

I did this last year while still freelancing.
Yep. Those Adult Swim boys on Williams Street are nutty.... The slipcover is an earlier version that I liked better than the one that finally went to print. This is Carl's belly and intestines. The stains on the shirt were specifically to be from buffalo wing sauce. The idea is that you slide his guts out from the slipcover that represents his exterior. The box was fun to do but....just once.

Casey Jr.

2009-04-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some concept boards for a toy line idea I had that never took off @ Disney. I think we were trying to steal some market share from Thomas the Tank Engine at the time.

Mascots

2009-04-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

For years I have been working with Dan Simon in developing mascots and mascot art for minor league baseball teams....mostly because I have a great fondness for the sport as well as for Dan. Sometimes I even get a nice jersey or a quality cap out of the deal.

The above are some sketches & stuff gleaned from that partnership. I can't even find some of the whackier stuff I did.

My favorite was for the Modesto Nuts....that's right, you heard me....huge walk around madcap anthropomorphic nuts.

Redhawk Head

2009-04-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

A recent mascot head done in Zbrush just as practice.....

Zbrush

2009-02-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

So I'm taking this Zbrush class right now. This is our first assignment....a hunchback. I love this program! I've barely learned how to operate the basics, but I'm already really enjoying it.

String Theory

2009-02-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some illustration style explorations for an existing line of string dolls. Images are likely going to be used for apparel.

Doodle

2009-01-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

some frivolity on my cintiq....

A good use for coal

2009-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

I decided to break out the charcoals last night. It's been a loooong time, and I probably would have been better off using some photo reference but it's fun to go primitive now & then.
This guy is made up completely as you can imagine..
I decided to manipulate the original sketch in Photoshop to see if I could make it a little more compelling....As I played with the symmetry, the drawing took a back seat to the design it was making and the negative space became more interesting to me.

Yet Another Past Folly

2009-01-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

In 2004, a partner & I were trying to make a stab as a toy invention company in the Novelty arena (see past post). Having just taken leave of the slings and arrows of the corporate hairball , I wanted to poke fun at the prototypical boss in hopes of striking a nerve amongst those toiling hidden minions...the blue collar downtrodden with an extra fifteen bucks burning a hole in their Dockers.
At the time, this category had some runaway successes that were being bought by adults rather than children. I figured that it would be appropriate for office related gift giving occasions and graduations, etc.
There were some great phrases that we came up with, but many were filtered out for one reason or another...mostly political correctness as I recall.
My favorite line was never included: "Don't think of it as a pink slip...it's actually more of a coral or salmon color." Another one was, "I'm an equal opportunity employer...as long as your not ugly or fat or old or anything." We were asked to take out "fat." I guess it's okay to offend the geriatric and aesthetically challenged among us. Go figure.
One phrase that did make it was, "The last guy I hired was a complete brown noser. Yep, he's gonna go far here!"
Long story short....because it was developed in China (like everything else) where the factories pretty much had no problem ripping each other off, a competing product came out exactly when ours did...coincidence, right? In addition, the buyers for the retailers that really could have written large orders felt this type of item had run it's course the year before. This is why ultimately, the only noteworthy place that carried our item was Fry's Electronics.
I think we sold like 23 pieces...not counting the one I bought.
The whole process was frought with petty indignities that I won't mention lest:
1. I bore you more than you already are....
2. I drudge up long dormant personal bitterness that might lead to a raging carbohydrate binge.

Sock Monkey's and Erin Bacon

2008-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

The first time I saw Erin Bacon, she was playing a Fender bass with her tall skinny husband Joe on lead guitar. They were the founders of a band called "Beauty For Ashes" that specialized in songs that heavily featured minor chords.
Erin had this Goth vibe going on. She was tall and pale with long straight jet black hair down to the small of her back. She looked almost exactly like Sally in "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
No, she wasn't covered in stitches and scars, but she was sporting a black eye patch. I thought it was part of the act, but we found out that cancer had recently taken her right eye. The new glass eye she would eventually get caused her tear duct to water constantly but she never complained about it.
My wife and I were were immediately intrigued by the Bacon's because they so brilliantly contrasted rest of the crowd at the concert. You see, this was in a place of worship in the uber-conservative Simi Valley. The women in that place, generally were matronly and ruddy. They wore floral print dresses down to their ankles so as not to appear impious.
The Bacon's were different. That night as I listened to them play, I sketched a picture of Skinny Joe with his nose ring and somehow he got a peak at it. I gave it to him and we all became friends from that point on.
A handful of us formed a little cell there for a while, a colorful undulating blob in a sea of well-intentioned uniformity. Eventually we all realized that we needed to move on and left the church. We continued to get together weekly to share our lives and to grope through the maze of our individual spiritual quests outside of the rigid and occasionally cumbersome structure of the conventional church. It was really beautiful.....it still is.
Here's where sock monkey thing comes in.
I have this gift, I guess you'd call it, for taking stuffed animals and imbuing them with life. It's not puppetry technically, because I and my hands are in full view at all times. Using subtle head movements and limb manipulation, I just try to make inanimate objects seem, ya know...alive. I would do this at Disney meetings with the plush toys we would have to correct or approve every so often.
I would be commenting to somebody from Mattel for the 50th time about how Tigger's head needed to be shaped more like a flattened football rather than a sphere or how his tail had to feel more like a bent spring than a hose and before you knew it, he would be doing some suggestive Madonna dance routine to the delight (or dismay) of my colleagues. It was good for an easy laugh. I often take the low road for the easy laugh. It's a weakness...mea culpa.
One night after watching me do a similar routine with a sock monkey for some kids, Erin showed up with a great wonky illustration of a sock monkey that she had found by some struggling artist on the Internet. She bought it, lovingly placed it in one of those clear plastic file sleeves and gave it to me as a birthday gift. I hung it above my computer at home.
I capitulated with the following poem:

Sock Monkey, Sock Monkey you bringer of joy. You’re a unisex creature for a girl or a boy….now Tell me dear monkey what was your beginning? Were you once a sports sock who saw extra innings? How did you get here? What means were involved? Did someone create you or did you evolve? You look to be calf length, that’s obviously true, But can your species be traced to some ankle high crew? Did you hang on a clothesline or a retail shelf? Or did you swing through a jungle of socks like yourself? I can’t help but wonder if you’re an ancestor of mine with your humanoid posture and your bright red behind. We’re so much alike, our features compared… (with the possible exception of my longer hair.) Your long lanky limbs and your thin curvy tail, Cause me to chuckle as they flop & they flail. With your cross-stitched eyes and your ear to ear grin, I dare to darn you ‘cause we’re practically kin. Oh Sock Monkey…my old cotton friend. Perish the thought that our affection might end. We’ll be life long companions, for this is our fate, I’ll never forsake you….’cause you’re my sole mate.

In 2005, our little circle of misfits watched as Erin's life was devastated by the same cancer that took her eye. From the time she was diagnosed, she barely had three months to live. She was only 38. We all miss her.

I could no longer look at the sock monkey picture. I took it down after her wake. I don't even know where it is now.

I am now the owner of a couple of sock monkeys of the actual woven variety. The latest, pictured above, suffered a senseless and unprovoked attack by three sinister cats before I even saw him for the first time. His chest was lovingly patched with some black plush by the 12 year old boy that gave him to me. That same boy then dubbed him "Hasselhoff."

*The good news is that Joe eventually married Erin's best friend who also happens to be named Erin and we love her too.

Zoinks!

2008-11-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

This is my offering for this year's TCS promotional calendar. My assignment was an upcoming live action/CG Scooby movie that is to air in the Fall. This year we were asked to include one of these "Noodie" figures from our current on-air campaign so I portrayed it as a slobbery Shaggy squeak toy.
I don't think this concept and illustration are indicative of my best work.
Oh well. That's how it goes....sometimes my muse just goes AWOL.
Note: unlike the last two calendar pages I was assigned (here & here), there is nary an indication of poop humor or butts of any sort here....of this I am proud.

Pastel

2008-09-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

Just killing time yesterday.
I wanted to practice with my pastels in a more painterly way without too much blending or smoothing.

Skate Tee's

2008-08-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Some new skateboard stuff...this time T-shirt concepts. My stuff is very tame (probably too tame) by comparison, but as I was doing research for this, I got a good peek at the modern skate culture aesthetic. It seems these chilin's really like death and skulls & satanic imagery.
It's sort of an odd re-emerging of the old motorcycle gang genre....for like...10 year old boys....only darker and less optimistic.
What ever happened to OP and Vans? How about sweet images of beaches and with surfboards stuck in the sand?
I'm gettin' old.

Some new skateboard stuff...this time T-shirt concepts. My stuff is very tame (probably too tame) by comparison, but as I was doing research for this, I got a good peek at the modern skate culture aesthetic. It seems these chilin's really like death and skulls & satanic imagery.
It's sort of an odd re-emerging of the old motorcycle gang genre....for like...10 year old boys....only darker and less optimistic.
What ever happened to OP and Vans? How about sweet images of beaches and with surfboards stuck in the sand?
I'm gettin' old.

One more

2008-08-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Going Mobile

2008-08-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

These are some early concepts for CN's 2008 Holiday give away at the Studio.

The Thre....uh, Two Mulleteers

2008-07-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

I woke up with the words, "The Three Mulleteers" in my head for some odd reason this morning and I thought, "that's kind of funny." I did a sketch in pen and ink....hated it....did this one in Illustrator....was too lazy to actually render three of these guys....so this is the result. I suppose I should have dressed them appropriately with swords and frilly shirts....but I don't think it would have been worth the time investment.

What's wrong with this %^$@%! remote?

2008-07-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

This started out as a sketch to test out some new cro-quill nibs I bought and it turned into well....something.

Sid

2008-07-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

The Jim Henson Co. recently debuted a new show on PBS called "Sid the Science Kid"
I was asked by Brandolution, the company that is doing the licensing for the show to come up with some character art for their style guide that would reflect the look of the show and yet still be vectorized as this is more desirable for product than Photoshop bitmap files.
After boning up on the gradient mesh tool in Adobe Illustrator, (oy!) this is a little peak of how it came out. It was a challenge, but I got the hang of it after awhile.

Busywork

2008-07-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

A few things I've been up to recently at Cartoon Network....bread & butter stuff for the most part but I haven't posted in a while so....

...above is for a DVD cover image for an Adult Swim show.

Above are some rough poses for a new show coming in August called "The Secret Saturdays" along with a PR image of the show's brilliant and generously coiffured creator Jay Stevens.....and below is a smattering of T-shirt concepts for some of our more recent shows.
...and finally, below is a porthole for a promotional mailer painted in Photoshop.

Eeeevil Argost

2008-07-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

This is a painting done in Painter X and Photoshop of the main villain for CN's upcoming Secret Saturdays series. In the show, he has his own theme park and merchandise...love that.
This image is supposed to end up in some promotional piece we're doing for Comicon. All I was told was to make him look "macabre."

Lil' Cindy

2008-06-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

This is an acrylic study I did last night of a maquette sculpt of Cinderella as a toddler. We had a few of these done as a toy line extension about 6 years ago at Disney. The pose was designed by Dorota and sculpted by the uber-talented Margaret Leahy....I "directed" the process....which means I did very little but offer sage utterances like, "Does her eye look wonky to you? No?' I didn't think so either. Approved."

Doodle

2008-06-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is a little character I doodled and then tried to emulate the look of an old offset print job.
Just experimenting during some down time.

Connected

2008-06-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

This is a little poem I wrote recently after reading some reader comments following a politically charged online article. I'm planning on coming up with an image to accompany this piece. The second stanza is my favorite part:

Connected

Oh what a contentious world the interweb hath wrought
Forums and message boards to post our every random thought
One says it's black, another claims it's white
And neither even bothers to try and spell it right

Pixelated pundits purveying pugilistic prose
Donning threadbare pajamas and socks with holey toes
Geniuses and dunces dance cheek to cheek in bliss
Spewing digital dogma into the great Abyss

There's a blog for this and a page for that
An entire site dedicated to a former family cat
There are sites seldom seen and sites too well worn
And a half a billion (!) pages with every kind of porn

Oh, the benefits are many for this gilded online age
But I sort of miss the texture of the ancient printed page
And paying bills online is actually very nice
But we've a million terabyte pipeline for every human vice.

And what is the result of all this furious keyboard noise?
Does the Information Age enhance our earthly joys?
Or has this Superhighway on which our world relies
Become our road to ruin...
Sped up our slow demise?

A certain Pop Art prophet* was famous for the claim
That one day we would all have our quarter hour's fame
Now thanks to sites like MySpace, Facebook and the same
No less than fifteen people can be familiar your name...

DVD cover sketches

2008-06-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Some quick sketches for DVD layouts. All done in Alias Sketchbook. I didn't spend too much energy on model issues here, but it was fun just cranking out quick layouts.

Nesting Doll Concept

2008-06-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

This is a concept done recently for a Carl nesting doll, if you're not familiar with him, he's an Aqua Teen Hunger Force character. I think giving his mustache it's own skeleton was particularly clever...oh, I just slay myself.

A Word Painting

2008-04-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

This morning I drove up to the local foothills a couple of miles north of my house and went for a walk before the heat settled in. There is a place I frequent in Porter Ranch that boasts an immense vista of the San Fernando Valley in all it's dysfunctional glory. There is a pine tree filled slope that leads from the residential street to the apex of the hill where it levels out for a few yards and then the ground falls away suddenly for about 200 feet to a dusty horse trail below. I usually feel drawn to this grassy ledge on warm windy days. I love the sound of the Santa Ana's whistling through pine needles. I find it majestic and comforting. It makes me think of God. From this very place, out of the earshot of strangers, I have adored Him, questioned Him, raged at Him, and tearfully thanked Him for a million graces I don't deserve.
Sometimes the wind is so fierce, I can almost lean my entire (not insubstantial) weight into it and not fall over. For this reason, it's wise to keep a healthy distance from the precipice. A few times I have haltingly toed the scalloped ledge and leaned forward just enough to sense the danger in front of me thereby confirming (as if I ever really doubted) that a fall from here would mean certain death. Behold the extent of a middle-aged man's daring. I think that is a part of the appeal of this location for me.
From this spot I can see geometric swirls of red tile roofed homes and Italian Cypress trees poking up through the landscape like whiskers. Further out into the older center of the Valley, the streets form a more linear grid-like pattern as the ground level drops to it's lowest point somewhere in Van Nuys then beginning it's ascent once again southward toward Encino and Sherman Oaks and up into the verdant spring greens of the Santa Monica Mountain range. It occurs to me now that if the topography of this place where plotted on a graph, the altitudes would correspond almost exactly with the average incomes of the people living in those areas.
On a day like this, with the breeze blowing the sepia inversion layer out to sea, I can spot the top third of the tallest buildings in downtown Los Angeles 25 miles away and beyond that, the misty marine layer that hugs the coast until mid-day.
It's amazing what a few hundred feet of vertical altitude can do. From up here, there are no individuals, no evidence of the masses: of their pains, of their joys. Absent is the din of traffic or the buzz of commerce and scant evidence of a community long in decline...at first, I wanted to paint this, but pigment suspended in oil slapped on a canvas wouldn't do it justice. Some pictures need to be written to be seen.

A painting for my dog

2008-04-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

We went on a plein air painting outing at Griffith Park yesterday after lunch.....surrounded by all that natural beauty, I was inspired to paint this....I guess it's appropriate since the place almost burned down last year.

Buckin' Dan-O

2008-04-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is a pastel painting done on chipboard that I was working on in between projects. It's inspired by a photo Ed took of Danbob Thompson at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage here in L.A.
Dan is the owner of two Basset Hounds and he often regales me with stories about their madcap adventures.....

Skateboard Art

2008-03-11T00:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some deck designs I did for a line of skateboards. Loved this project...

Patch-o-rama

2008-02-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

I designed a bunch of patches a few months ago.....
and lo and behold, somebody went and made a few of them.....
.....nifty.

From the Archives

2008-02-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

I've been a wee bit slack on the posting this month. It's not that I haven't been doing anything.....just nothing worth posting. This is a quick painting I did a couple of years ago one afternoon in my garage of some ornaments I was given sometime late in the last Millenium at a long forgotten Disney function.

Oils & Photoshop

If you're in the reading mood....I also found an old write up I did about Disney's struggle to get Mickey Mouse back into profitability as a character. At the time, we couldn't sell much of anything domestically from a product standpoint with him as the focus. This was in 2002, before the recent Disney Channel hit "Mickey Mouse Club House" was a gleam in anyone's eye mind you....

The Trouble With Mickey Mouse:
PORTRAIT OF AN AGING CULTURAL ICON
A Heady and Quasi-intellectual Analysis by Jim Valeri

Whether you choose to look at him as a 74-year-old actor, entertainer, comedian or a 74-year-old brand, icon, or cultural symbol, the fact of the matter is that the trouble with Mickey Mouse is that the world has changed drastically and he hasn’t.

“That’s not a problem, that’s a strength”, some may protest. I wouldn’t disagree. If the quandary set before us were not how to keep this character a lucrative licensing vehicle, I wouldn’t disagree at all. In fact, I would celebrate as we always have, the fact that one monumental aspect of Walt Disney’s (the man and the company) heritage is that in Mickey Mouse, we have the most recognizable brand icons in the world, an icon that is inexorably woven into the fabric of America and her image to the entire planet. No small feat there. It’s no coincidence that MM’s appeal is still strong in established and burgeoning democratic or capitalist populations in Europe, Asia, and South America. Nor is it surprising that there is still demand in the U.S. for products bearing his image in areas heavily trafficked by foreign tourists. Beyond that, his appeal in the States is largely sentimental and limited to Baby Boomers.

The challenge set before us is first of all then to decide whether we as a company will be content to let Mickey stay perpetually the American ambassador for creativity, freedom, opportunity, and good natured values, or whether we will launch a concerted effort to liquidate this presumed asset into tangible profit for the here and now. . It could be argued that the former is in many ways far more valuable to the company than the aspiration to reap greater royalties from Mickey’s brand strength. If we decide to do nothing and let Mickey run his course and retire into the collector and specialty market, there is nothing to apologize for. We simply must accept the fact that Mickey has entered the twilight years of his brand strength and revenue potential. Even Superman had to succumb to this fate.

But one thing seems clear, in order to make Mickey profitable and relevant to a new generation of consumers, we must utterly re-invent him. We must do violence to his sacred historical context. Mickey’s character has suffered from the inevitable ravages of years of suppressive personality buffering that eroded him into a smiling, vacuous, but entirely palatable corporate logo on stationary.

It was not so from the beginning. Mickey entered the then primordial cartoon world as a mischievous, whacky, tolerably irreverent, but resourceful underdog. As a comic strip and as an animated character, he displayed a range of personality that was much broader but at times less than politically correct. At times he would laugh at the misfortune of others, engage in occasional practical jokes, and even appear in black face ala’ Al Jolson. His falsetto voice and costume were novel by 1930’s standards, but entirely alien to modern sensibilities. Attempts have been made in the past to update his costume and facial features, (can anyone forget the Don Johnson-esque ‘80’s garb that Mickey donned at one time?), he gained eyeballs, lost his tail, and dropped some weight, but for the most part the changes were superficial and incremental.

If we are going to actually embark on the dangerous journey of making Mickey Mouse a salable contemporary character, we need to shift his paradigm completely. This will require the intestinal fortitude of key company officers. Otherwise, he’ll just continue to be a revamped version of his old self. He’ll be a has-been actor with a face-lift and some new duds pathetically attempting to seem young and in the mind of the consumer as Mickey goes…..so goes Disney.

So the first question isn’t “what do we do to make Mickey relevant?” the first question actually is “do we dare make Mickey relevant?” and if so, are we prepared to do so with the reckless abandon necessary make the world stand up and take notice?

If the answer to the second question is yes, then here are some suggestions: Warning! The following ideas may be considered radical, outrageous, and even sacrilegious. If you experience lightheadedness, nausea or dizziness, stop reading and consult a physician immediately.

• Retire Mickey and then re-introduce him and the rest of the gang as a born again 3D computer animated character with a new look and a new attitude (introduce other new characters as well). The world will either love and embrace him or they will hate him and demand the old Mickey they had heretofore taken for granted. Either way, we win. (The classic Coke ploy)
(where are my residuals?)

• Keep him basically the same visually but reveal him as a self aware, aging corporate icon who shows up every day at the Team Disney building and gripes about how “Walt would have done it.” We see him out of uniform, unshaven, unpretentious. Out of the public eye, his voice is deeper; his steamboat is now a 50-foot yacht. The idea here is that if Disney pokes fun at Disney, we beat our critics to the punch. If we acknowledge his irrelevance, he becomes relevant again.

• M.I.C. (Mickey In Cognito) Maybe we find out that that Mickey’s real occupation is an ageless super hero or tough as nails James Bond-like character that has been posing as a high profile (and thus beyond suspicion) celebrity cartoon character for 75 years. We learn how he was crucial to 20th century historical events like the end of the cold war and the invention of television. Only Pluto is aware and then only because he can’t talk.

These suggestions, while obviously not the only solutions, are in my opinion, good examples of just what kind of thinking must take place in order to get our beloved mascot back on the road toward profitability.

ATHF Logo treatments

2008-01-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some logo treatments I did to go with the image below. I had to come up with a type treatment loosely based on the ATHF logo and give it that "death metal" feel.
I enjoy doing this kind of stuff as well now and then.

Frazetta Homage

2008-01-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

After Vince's comment, I decided to do a version with the smaller planet because it does make a nicer composition. I'll let them worry about picking the right Tee shirt color.....they'll likely go with black anyway.

I've been working on this illustration for several weeks. It's for a style guide and some T-shirts.
The idea was (don't laugh) to try and get a Frank Frazetta styled feel which, if you have ever seen the man's work, is a ridiculously tall order for a little ol' hack like myself.
I actually had to be my own model for the central figure (Carl). So sad.
The Adult Swim guys wanted "naked girls in chains" but I couldn't go that far because it would likely ruin any future plans I have to run for a public office.
I did it in Painter and Photoshop.
While I flirted with the idea of painting it in oils, but thought better of it....wisely I think.

Update....my boss liked an earlier airbrushed version I did better because it had that
painted on the side of a 1976 Ford Econoline Van look about it. So I have both versions posted now.

At the top is a pencil layout done before the final image.

Little Match Girl Redux

2008-01-05T07:37:00.000-08:00

Now I ain't much fer fancy book learnin' but it occurs to me that "The Little Match Girl" is a classic parable. Parables are meant to illustrate profound or abstract truths with relatively simple word pictures or stories. Usually the characters are nameless as in this case, because they are more symbolic than narrative.

Our main character is the girl...we know she is little, cold, poor, tattered, abused, motherless, weak and likely malnourished. She is the ultimate symbol of innocence and helplessness. You could not find an object more worthy of charity....she has a father who is abusive, neglectful, and cruel. He has failed in his duty to his daughter in the most basic ways, by not providing for her life & safety and emotional well being.

Society (albeit 19th century society) is also implicit here because she dies selling matches at night to passers by on the open street who obviously have no pity on her plight or who (like us perhaps?), just assume somebody else will intervene to help. I can conjecture that she is rather plain looking because the world values physical beauty and would have more likely responded if she were exceptionally cute.

The matches are of course, the fleeting vestiges of light which itself is symbolic of life, heaven and ultimately of God. In their illumination, she sees her deceased grandmother, a symbol of the only love she has known in her life. Granny is hope and acceptance personified.

Our little one also sees an oven symbolizing (warmth), food (sustenance), a magnificently lit evergreen Christmas tree (regeneration), and a shooting star which the author reveals as prophetic of what will soon happen to her.

The whole context is set on a cold & windy (life's tribulations) New Year's Eve which represents among other things: transition, a fresh start, and the wonder of what will be....faith that things will get better.

In my opinion, this is no mere exercise in nihilistic story telling. Oddly enough, that kind of cynicism is more in vogue in our modern world where we have so much. Even the poor in today's western civilization live much better than the majority of the folks who lived in Andersen's 1800's. The author was very familiar with poverty (see his bio here) but he is not necessarily focusing on the tragedy of her short miserable life, but the fact that she is given hope that as her last match is extinguished, she would find herself in a place, "where there's no cold, no hunger, no fear."

That Winning Smile

2007-12-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

Kate is new to live modeling, but she exudes a refreshing effervescence that most others lack or have lost long ago through cynicism and ennui.

The Little Match Seller

2007-12-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

A piece for this month's Gum or Mints Blog.
This is based on a poem written in 1846 by Hans Cristian Andersen called the "The Little Match Seller." Here's a link to the original poem. For some reason, later versions have been shortened and secularized. I like this translation.

Two Year Blog-iversary

2007-12-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well it has been two years today since I started blogging. I have often asked myself why I do this at all. To say it's from a relentless desire to create or as some sort of existential cathartic release would be dishonest....or at least incomplete.

Unlike many, I knew what I wanted to do since the first grade. My earliest memory of being praised for something was when I painted a flamingo and even managed somehow to mix a proper pink with my little palette of tempura paint. I suppose that if I had been made a fuss over for building a skyscraper on my Erector Set, I would be an architect today.

Thanks to all of you who have visited.

Blessings,
Jim

2007-12-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Just an older character stylization exercise for work.

One More

2007-11-20T16:53:00.000-08:00

Last in the series for ATHF....I only hope it's cheesy enough.

I heart the 80's....

2007-11-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

This was an assignment to paint some 80's style album art for an upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force Style Guide. They're supposed to be reminiscent of albums by RATT and Judas Priest......I had to brush up on my chrome technique for this. Too bad I chucked my real airbrush years ago.....I don't miss that dang thing at all to be honest.

The Pinnacles

2007-11-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

This was painted in about 90 minutes close to our place up in Lake Arrowhead. Oil on Masonite.

Puppets

2007-11-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

So I was asked to come up with some puppet designs for a potential on-air thing. This was my first pass, from there a couple of these were chosen and refined but this was the funnest part for me.

2008 CN Calendar

2007-10-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

This is what I designed & illustrated for this years CN calendar. I was assigned the show "My Gym Partner's a Monkey" for the month of September.
Note the homage to the show creators Tim & Julie Cahill on the mailing address.

Plein Air at the Mission

2007-10-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

My colleague and friend Danbob Thompson, my boss and friend Ed Murrieta, and I went to Santa Barbara to paint on Friday. It was really beautiful and it all ended with some good seafood on the pier.

Started this pastel painting at the Mission but the light was changing so fast I took a picture and finished it up at home. This was just a magnificent tree fertilized by several ancient deceased Catholic pilgrims........talk about your "miracle grow."

Also at the Mission......oil on masonite

Frankenstain

2007-10-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

For the this months "Gum or Mints" Theme....

2007-10-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the final painting for my class in "Figure Painting in Natural Light."
Oil on canvas board-12"X16"

Black Kimono

2007-10-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

The last couple of paintings came out hideous.....and will therefore never see the light of day.
I was okay with this one though. I tried to stick with a four color (plus white) palette. I really liked that experience and might make it my normal approach from now on....still so much to learn.

Editorial Illustration

2007-09-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

I started out just doodling in Painter and it progressed into this piece.

It seems Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is traveling to New York to address the United Nations' General Assembly and then he'll give a rousing oration to the "open minded" students and faculty at Columbia University.

The State Department calls Iran a state sponsor of terror, and Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust "a myth" and urged for Israel to be destroyed. He also leads his minions in a weekly "Death to America chant." His country sits on a literal sea of oil and yet they claim their development of nuclear materials is for the purposes of "energy production." There's ample evidence that Iran is providing arms and support to the bad guys in Iraq as well.

In a better time, this guy would be taking a perma-dip in the Hudson for even trying to set foot on American soil.

I'm done now.

Waitress Theme

2007-09-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

More stuff for Gum or Mints......go there for witty commentary.

Sue

2007-08-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

The result of this weeks painting class. I approached it differently this time. I worked smaller. I just kept a brisk pace and didn't worry much about color as I did about getting the values right. I'm actually pretty happy with it.

Oil Study

2007-08-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't stand looking at the face in this painting anymore so I edited the original post. Much better now.

CN T-shirt designs

2007-08-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some designs for the Network to make Tee's from. The assignment is so broad that I'm struggling a bit.
I have a hard time just "free-forming." That's a trait I admire in so many others I've known who seem to have this bubbling caldera of crazy-cool imagery perculating in their mind's eye. When I try to go to that smokey lounge where my elusive muses loiter....I usually fall asleep.

Aaaalvin!

2007-07-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

Just a quick little concept job I did last night.

Character Designs

2007-07-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here's where I ended up with these designs. Now they're off to be painted by the talented Mr. Brian McGee. I can't wait to see the finals.

El Toro

2007-07-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is a tribute to Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and my gardener Salustrio. He's been doing the landscaping at my house far longer than I've owned it and he does a great job. This took me a lot longer than I normally have patience for...and it still can't hold a candle to Mr. Roth's work. But it was fun.

Sir Paul II

2007-06-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

I deleted the last post because the more I looked at the image, the more I hated it. In this one, Mr. McCartney retains his Zoolanderish attitude without employing the sub-par digital watercolor method I was experimenting with.

AhMADinejad

2007-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

A little editorial assignment I gave myself last night. This was done in water soluble oils and digital.

If the guy in the foreground doesn't scare the poo out of you, you probably don't know enough about him.
Here's a clue. Imagine the guy in the background about 62 years ago....only with access to a nuke and absolutely no regard for his own life or that of his people. Nervous yet?

Tinkink

2007-06-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

Some experimentation on a little side job for the Mouse.

Shadow Knight

2007-06-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

This is a color comp for the same project below. The characters have been refined as well but I don't think I can post them just yet.

Assorted Warriors

2007-05-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

These are a few initial sketches of character designs for on online game that I'm helping out with....that's all I'm sayin'.

More uh...Big Ideas

2007-05-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

These didn't go anywhere either but "Muttles the Metal Detector" was under consideration at a couple of places.

The One's That Got Away

2007-05-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

The next few posts will feature some of the many hare-brained novelty concepts that my buddy Jason & I came up with when we briefly formed a company called Playtonium Labs LLC. At the time you couldn't convince me that any one of these ideas were going to make us fabulously wealthy! BwaaaahahahaHA!

Well, um...they didn't.

Now my failure is mere fodder for your amusement. So enjoy.

BUT.... if you happen to be a reckless entrepreneur who wants to run with one of these brilliant ideas.....uh, we'll go fifty-fifty....or sixty-forty even.We actually had the engineering for the above idea completely nailed.....kind of.

What aspiring gangsta wouldn't want this in his Easter basket?

Here's a Father's Day gift that would be sure to please the old man....unless he drives a Prius.

This stuff never gets old.....admit it!

This desktop Marquis should appeal to the Narcissist in just about anyone...with the possible exception of Bob Mincy, the guy I originally pitched this to.

Blockheads

2007-05-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Danbob & I worked up these designs for some upcoming CN swag. The body parts are connected with elastic and can be posed to a certain extent. Some of the characters are from shows that haven't aired yet...isn't that scintillating?

Meeeeeow

2007-05-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is Lauri. Lauri saw Bryan's Birthday card. Lauri wanted an image of herself as a Cat Woman with a "D" on her chest. Lauri does my expense reports. I give Lauri whatever she wants.

SUPERMON

2007-04-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

This is a quick Birthday card for my colleague in Atlanta, Mr. Bryan Mon.
Bryan is one of those scary talented guys that apparently has equal and simultaneous access to both sides of his brain.
He also takes it upon himself to perpetually craft a birthday card and poem for just about everybody in the Creative Dept.
I thought I'd return the favor just once.

Old Buddy Bear

2007-04-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

These roughs are for some fabric softener box concepts I did over the weekend. Nothing ground shattering here but God help me, I just still love drawing this character after all these years.

Pushing Paint

2007-04-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of last week's Alla Prima class. It's maddening how you can struggle so much on some things and others come without much effort. In this case, I spent most of the three hour class noodling the torso and then I proceeded to paint the entire head in about two minutes.....nutty!
I almost forgot how enjoyable traditional oil painting can be. The tactile nature of it, the smell of the paint, the "on the fly" problem solving, and the lack of an "undo" command are very satisfying in ways that digital art can never be.