Nico Cartoons

Fall's ending, Winter's almost here!

2011-11-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

Hello Blogger, long time no see. Here's some stuff from the last couple months:

11/8 was Kali's birthday. Happy birthday Kali!

A gift for my wonderful friend Geneva! It’s her characters Know-How the Bunny and Exuberance the Kitty! ♥

Lydia from the Beetlejuice cartoon, a piece drawn for Halloween.

A cartoony children's show logo Mike McCafferty asked me to draw for his Channel 101 series, HONKERS.

A shop-a-holic squirrelly girl someone commissioned me to create for their retail website.

Fanart Alert: Penelope Pitstop and Judy Jetson

Hey have you seen MY TUMBLR? Go and check that out to see posts about my art and life-happenings a lot more frequently!

More stuff from the past couple months.

2011-09-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga

Jack's birthday present

Scribble work doodle

Blondie (Debbie Harry)

Stuff from the past couple months.

2011-08-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Busy busy busy times. New job at a fantastic animation studio (you'll have to guess which one), filming videos, drawing cartoons, going out to play with friends. Here's some drawings and cartoon gifts I never got around to posting here.

Zach's birthday and college graduation present!

Kali's favorite food!

Drawn for awesome and extremely tall boy Matt Danner's birthday bash!

Wanna be more in the loop with me, my art, and my life? FOLLOW MY TUMBLR!

(I post my artwork there a lot quicker and more often than I do here)

COMIC-CON 2011

2011-07-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

See you all this weekend! We'll be handing out Bacon Strips prints!!

HAM BA GA SHOW!

2011-06-25T02:31:00.000-07:00

Here's my piece for Q Pop's Ham Ba Ga Show art gallery, celebrating all things hamburgers! It's entitled "Meat-Bound Beat-Down". And special thanks to Aron Shay for the color shading and background help!

This will be up for sale along with a ton of other awesome artists' as well, so come join the fun and visit us this Saturday night in Little Tokyo, LA!

GIGGLERS!

2011-06-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

Guess what! We submitted again to Channel 101 this past month, and got accepted into the screening! It played in front of our friends and a live LA audience. A great night was had by all. This brand new show is called "Gigglers"! It stars myself, along with Kali Fontecchio and Tara Billinger as the adorable title characters- The Gigglers.

Also co-starring Matt Danner, Deanna Rooney and Jack Cusumano! Thank you all so much for working and giggling with me during this production. I am super proud of it and I have only my friends to thank for it.

And sure, why not, I felt like doing fanart for my own show. DEAL WITH IT. :P

Bacon Pizza Boobies Party!

2011-05-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

Power overload! Too busy, toooo much stuff going on lately.

I'm in the Autumn Society's TMNT Art Show in Philadelphia next week! Here's my piece for it, entitled "If You Give A Turtle Pizza..."

So if you live in Philly, check out my piece in person (you can even purchase it if you want!) as well as tons of other artwork by awesome artists! Here are the details...

Time:

Friday, June 3 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Location:

BRAVE NEW WORLDS COMICS

45 N. 2nd Street

Philadelphia, PA

Here's the present I bestowed for friend Myke Chilian's birthday a few weeks ago!

Mmmm, bacon!

Tons more stuff to share, but it'll have to wait until I have the time to make another post. Bye!

Pop Some Popcorn, Sit Back, and Enjoy...

2011-05-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

SO much going on lately! To start off, here's our Channel 101 pilot that we submitted for the April 2011 screening. It's called "Drive-Thru Confessions" and it was created and written by myself and Kali Fontecchio!

It stars myself, Kali, Abed Gheith, Myke Chilian, Eric Bauza, Matt Danner, Scott Gairdner and Molly Bates Johnson, along with awesome visual effects and on-set assistance by Tara Billinger and Jack Cusumano. A HUGE thanks to you guys, it was a really fun project and I’m so proud of it!

Next up is a freaking amazing animated segment that Kali worked on the whole past month, featuring her own Maude Macher in Episode 16 of EVERYTHING! I helped cut the animatic together, and did the segment's final editing, sound effects and music! She really did an incredible job on this, I could just watch it on loop all day long!!!!

The Maude segment begins at 02:10, but make sure to watch the whole episode anyway because EVERYTHING rules!

Guess what! Zach Bellissimo's senior thesis is done done DONE!! And the end results are incredible. I cannot show it online at this time for obvious reasons, but I did help color about a dozen scenes throughout the second half of the film. Here's the poster, to help you anticipate the full film soon!

Finally, Channel 101's other hit show Googy asked us to be in their latest episode, Googy #4! You can find Kali, Jack, Tara and myself all as Halloween partygoers at the ending's Wolf Boy (Myke Chilian!!) song. I'm a FrankenNico!

And here are some props Jack and I created to decorate Googy's bedroom in Episode 3. Thanks to Willy Roberts and Mike Manasewitsch for inviting us to be a part of their fantastic show!

Okay, even MORE fun to share, soon!

Corny Doggz in a Pie-Ay-Yi House

2011-04-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a special anniversary drawing for the beloved Californian beach chain Hot Dog on a Stick. They loved it!

Some fanart for friends Kate Freund and Kyle Reiter's Channel 101 series Legend of the White Tiger.

Remember the iPod skin cover I designed? Here it is in all it's skinned up glory!

Plus a couple of foodle doodles whilst spending an evening at the amazing House o' Pies.

Also, if you've been thinking about buying my new print then now's the time. I've only got about 10 of these suckers left!

Click below to buy securely through PayPal!

Back to work...

Swing, You Sinners!

2011-04-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a really positive response from this piece I recently did, so I've decided to sell prints of it! They'll ship right to you, as 11x17 high-quality glossy prints, for just $12 bucks (+$2 shipping). Buy one for yourself, your sweetheart, or even your dad!

Click below to buy securely through PayPal!

Big Fat Hairy Update!

2011-03-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's been foreverrrrrr since I've posted! Is Blogger dying? Everybody is now over on TUMBLR!!!!!

This blog will continue on, of course, but if you want to see much more up-to-the-moment updates with my art and life in general, go follow my Tumblr. It's fun, promise.

So here's some Nico cartoons from the past month or two. Check out the skin design I did for my new iPod tOuch!

Channel 101 fanart! Myke Chilian's Puzzles...

Kate Freund's Le Typewriter...

Friend Deanna!

Cover art for the 27th episode of The Grandma's Virginity Podcast, starring Justin Roiland, Ryan Ridley and Jackie Buscarino!

GUESS WHAT!! The quadfecta is now complete: Tara Billinger moved in with us last month! Here is a piece I did to celebrate!

Tara's celebratory cartoon!!!! I love how each of us are represented by our characters partyin' all together!

Here is Jack's portrait! So awesome! You must join our cult!

Live action family portrait coming soon!
I love these crazy kids. Our apartment is now a powerhouse of cartoon happiness.

Lastly, my birthday was last week and I got some amazing art gifties. Here are some of my favorite cartoon ladies, courtesy of Kali!!! <3

More amazement from Tara!!!

Jack drew me as KERMIE!

And some international Scribble and Skarfy fanart by the talented Hammerson! I love this, man!

I have much more new art to share, but I'll save some of it for the next post!
Thanks for visiting my blogggggg.

4 QWAZY!

2011-02-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

Straight off the success of last year's Budzone.com, we bring you a brand new energy drink made especially for dudes, bros, and hot chicks. 4 QWAZY!

Starring Kali Fontecchio, Molly and Carl Johnson, Jack Cusumano, and yours truly. Special appearances by Eric Bauza, Myke Chilian, Matt Danner and Bill Kopp! Music by David Gemmill! Did I mention Bill Kopp, the creator and voice of Eek The Cat, is in this? 4 QWAZY is indeed an all-star cast!

This is probably my favorite video we've ever done. The film shoots were entirely too much fun. Plus so many awesome friends put a lot of time and effort into this, so I want to thank you all. There's much, much more to come!

Alexis Prius and Carmindi will return...

Cartoon Burgers and Astronaut Dragons!

2011-01-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hey! Fun stuff for you in this post! First up, my pal the amazing Myke Chilian's McBUSTERS series has just wrapped up it's 3rd and final installment!!! I helped a little bit on it!

Which means if you haven't already, click below to watch the ENTIRE kickass series NOW!

Only on Channel 101! I've been a huge 101 fan for about 6 years now, and it's amazing to finally be getting involved in it. I drew a teeny tiny bit of stuff for this episode of McB's: like an obese man, a cartoon heart, a couple props, and (an unused) Jesus Christ himself.

A couple of us even make a cameo in this third/final episode. Look out!

Along with all this, holy crap times are crazy and busy! Working on my own stuff has been (only slightly) placed on the backburner right now, on account of full-time studio work I've been doing for the show Nickelodeon BrainSurge. I'm pretty proud of a lot of it so far, and when the episodes air on TV and it's okay to share some of my artwork for it, I will do so here!

I've also been doing some commission work for my friends Sarah and Zack, and their band The Runaway Five. Here's a black and white t-shirt design for them based on one of their songs about a dragon in outer space, wearing an astronaut suit. Therefore she cannot breathe fire, which is a tragic event indeed.

And a venue poster for them! Still a work in progress but this is the gist of it.

Lido Pizza tablemat doodles! Complete with pizza grease stain. Scribble and Skarfy enjoy some [vegan] pepperoni pizza.

I know times here at my blog have been slow lately, but I'm just drawing so much stuff that simply cannot be shared online yet. Thank you guys for still visiting here though. :)
My next post, which is actually in just a couple days, is going to have something extremely special. Get yourself ready for: 4 QWAZY!!

2010 Wrapup!

2011-01-07T00:19:00.000-08:00

The holidays have come and gone, 2011's already started up, I have new jobs, additional new roommates... Times are changing, and much too fast! But it's all going great right now. So the following post is a "cheater post", because I want to show off how my holidays were and what kind of goodies I got. Enjoy!

BOXING DAY is the most anticipated day of the year! This British-themed party that Molly and Carl threw was so much fun! Here's Kali as Vyvyan from The Young Ones. I accidentally missed the "british" memo.

Molly ROCKS IT. Hahaha!

Carl wants to sweep your chimneys. Kali wants you to STICK IT.

Oh yeah, and that Christmas thing happened too. I got lots of great gifts! Here's a DEVO wallet from Molly and Carl!

Swanky new headphones from Kali! Thanks so much budzone!!!

More from Molly and Carl! A Mad Hatter pin and a little finger friend. I got the Donald pin for myself, haha.

Brianne sent me this super cute holiday card! Thank you soo much, pal!

I also got tons of other gifts, mostly for me! Look at all the awesome I gave to myself... like Sugar Pops Pete!!

Disney Gremlins and Alice toys!

A lovable, hugable Neil Hamburger plush doll. Purchased at a live show of his I attended at Club Congress, whoa!!

My new favorite coffee mug.

These AMAZING tiki masks were found at the greatest store on earth, Bookman's. Gonna put these babies right up on our living room wall!

And last but certainly not least, my big present to myself: these gorgeous Dia de los Muertos statues!!!!

Don't let these photos fool you- these two are HUGE. Like a foot and a half tall. Hand-sculpted and extremely fragile.

Finally, right up until the 31st it was nonstop fun. Here's our New Years karaoke night!

A Ms. Pac-Man arcade game is the best kind of table for relaxing with your drinks.

"Do I creep you out?"

Well, a new year brings new possibilities, new memories, and new fun. The next couple weeks especially, we will be bringing webcomics, brand new short videos and other great surprises to you. Until then!

It's Chrimbus!

2010-12-23T01:13:00.000-08:00

Have a happy one, everybody. :)

In Heaven, Everything Is Fine

2010-12-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

Hey! As you might know we are on the very cusp of the release of Bacon Strips. A few finishing touches to the website is all we're waiting on, and then it's launching time. But until then I've got other fun stuff to share!

Here's something just completed- my very first TV commercial! This has been drawn and animated by myself for the past few weeks at my daytime job, and has been produced for Thunder Canyon Brewery restaurant and bar. It was a lot of work, but really fun to make. Stu is voiced by Jack Cusumano, and I voice Al and the martini glass.

Here's something a few friends have done in the past couple months, and I thought it'd be fun to try and make one for myself. So, if you ever wanted to know the main ingredients that go into what compiles the creative side of my brain, look no further than the contents of the map below.

A quick Skarfy doodle, done for a coworker. This now hangs on her office bulletin board!

And lastly, this is a short video made for my #1 Budzone, Kali! It's the 300th post over on her blog. Go and show her some love!

This video features Molly and Carl Johnson, Jack Cusumano, Casey Wills and myself. Plus a special vocal appearance by Eric Bauza as the announcer!

PARTY TIME

2010-11-10T18:25:00.000-08:00

It was Kali's birthday this past weekend and it was the best time ever!!!!!! Shopping, massages, live concerts, drunk karaoke, Disneyland, and looots of tiramisu.

I got her a few gifts but here's the one I made especially for her! What could be better than to be surrounded by the three best cartoon characters?

Here are phun phriend photos from over the weekend! Look how much Kali and I enjoy each other's company.

STU IS THE MAN!!!!!!!! We've got a brand new television show coming soon where in it, we play - get this - wacky roommates!

Tim and Eric speak to us about the universe.

Oh these guys!!

I'm always that last guest to leave the party. Kali just notices that she hasn't seen us old pals since high school! And Stu has just seen the entire galaxy unfold before his eyes.. either that or he's just realized he left the oven on.

F is for Friends.

Happy birthday to you Kali, my #1 Budzone!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEENIE!

2010-10-27T03:33:00.000-07:00

Beware of

HITCHHIKING GHOSTS!!!!!!!!!!!

THEBACONSTRIPS.COM!!!!!!

2010-10-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

So you know all this stuff I've had to keep a secret this whole summer? Well.

Yes!!! Kali Fontecchio's MAUDE MACHER, Benjamin Anders' JO THE FAUX, and yours truly's SCRIBBLE & SKARFY invite you to join them in all of their upcoming adventures. Three brand new webcomic series known together as: BACON STRIPS! Brought to you by "Internet".

We've been working on these comics all summer long, and it's going to be great finally getting to share them with you. Plus, Bacon Strips will be having some amazing AMAZING extra comics by special guest artist pals of ours. Get excited!!!

We've got a few more weeks until the launch, but visit the site and save it to your bookmarks now so you can join us soon for all kinds of crispy, greasy, bacon-y goodness!

UPDATE!!!:
Jack Cusumano drew our lil' family: Kali, Jiji and meee! Thanks buddy, I love this!

????????????

2010-09-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Wait, what the? Why is there a framed picture of someone's fanny, and what's it doing on this blog? Is there something we're not telling you? Is something big coming? This makes no sense. Or does it? You be the judge!!!

SKETCHIES AND PUPPIES AND BIRTHDAY CAKE

2010-09-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Summer's (finally) winding down, and here are more gifts and fun stuff that came out of it!

Here is the birthday card I drew for the dynamic bros. themselves, Ben and Scott!

21 years old doesn't mean too much in Canada because I think by 18 or 19 you can do pretty much all the cool stuff you want there. But it does mean that at least you guys can finally go grab a drink with us when you come to the States to visit!

Next is a drawing for my dear crafty friend Jessica, and her brand new dogtography business!!!! You seriously need to check out some of her pup pics, they are to die for. This drawing was tons of fun to do and gave me a chance to visit some of the great cartoon dogs of our time. There's quite a range of stars here: (L-R) John K's Ren Höek, Hanna-Barbera's Huckleberry Hound, Charles Schultz's Snoopy, Nick Park's Gromit, Disney's Georgette, and Tex Avery's Droopy.

Yay!! It's my Mariella! She can cook the most amazing-looking bowl of noodles with broccoli or tofu scramble that you've ever seen. "WE WANT NOOOODLE"

Here's a commission for Trevor! He wanted my character Kiwi taking a nice big leak on Brian from The Family Guy. Man, that show has the flattest character designs in animation history! I thought I'd take it pretty far and make my drawing of Brian as flat and awkward as humanly possible. Funny enough, it still doesn't look that far off from the real thing.

My wonderful friends Cheyenne and Anna visited from Canada over the summer and we had a huge fun-filled day in Hollyweird! Shopping, Daikoku ramen, and sharing a bottle of gin in a hot tub is indeed my idea of a great time. I doodled this in Cheyenne's sketchbook while out at lunch, and she was sweet enough to pose for the cutest picture with it! Hooray!

Well, the biggest surprise of this summer has been saved for last. What's been going on with me behind the scenes these past few months? Hmmmmm....

'TUDE III: 'TUDE AGAIN

2010-09-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, can you believe that YEAR after YEAR, Hollywood studios are kind enough to bring us exactly what we're happily familiar with? I'm of course talking about 'TUDE!!!

Well it's that time once again. This year has been no exception, and our animated movies are continuing to be slathered all over with delicious 'TUDE. Bring it on, Marmatude!!

Will Arnett and his intergalactic best friend bring us 'TUDE from beyond the furthest reaches of the galaxy!

One eyebrow arched? Check. One eyebrow raised? Check. Cocksure smirk? Check. Perfect 'TUDE? CHECK!!!

Sassy! What better way to sexually confuse your youth demographic audience than to show them the poster below?

Something's fishy.

NOW we're talking!!

Such 'TUDE! I wish I was the genius who is hired to come up with the tagline for these posters. I want to be able to roll around in millions of dollars too!

"Thanks for ripping off Balto characters, adding some gross Open Season spice and wrapping the whole thing in a gay Furry Fandom tortilla. Oh yea, don't forget the 3D!!!!!!"
- Zach Bellissimo

You're wrong, Bellissimo. This is pure genius and completely original and you know it. There isn't anything else like Alpha and Omega, it's a brand new idea that has the guts to be filled with things that have never been tried in animated features before. And not you or anyone else is going to stop me from being first in line to see it on opening day!!!

Hey, remember my movie poster post from a while back?

Doesn't this just look riveting?

Never in all my years have I see a more glorious example of 'TUDE. So much in fact that BOTH characters on this poster below are serving us with a double-whammy of it. "Hey guys, what if we have our two main characters on our poster making the exact same face?"

I call it brilliance. Perhaps even... 'TUDE overload?? Our old friend Shrek here can't even seem to handle these high 'TUDE levels. I'll cut you a break buddy and stop now.

Keep 'TUDEing, friends!!

NICO'S TOP 20 FAVORITE MOVIES

2010-08-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Because nobody asked for it, let my movie countdown begin! Enjoy.

PART I

PART II

I COME BEARING GIFTS AND BABY HIPSTERS

2010-08-09T03:55:00.000-07:00

Gonna go back in time! Scribble and Skarfy (above), circa age 8. They've been best friends since kindergarten, so it certainly has been a long road!

Just when you thought Twitter couldn't possibly get any worse...

Below is a portrait gift for the happiest family I know: Molly, Carl, Devo and McRib! Presented to them in the dark backseat of my car at Comic Con a few weeks ago.

A commissioned doodle sketch for the amazing and lovely Aron, of her partner-in-crime Christopher! The ROCKDRIVER. I love these two.

Here is a very kickass and handsome man; the dude behind RAD RAZ series, Jack Cusumano! And his precious little dog, Olive. If you've never been graced by her shivering little presence before, you are definitely missing out!

Oh look! This is also something I whipped up for Jack, albeit a long time ago.. his cute character Bangs, and her doggy doggy Ice Cream! They are both really cute and I like them too. I like everyone. hahaha aaugh it's late

More gifts/commissions and surprises revealed next time! Plus: NICO'S TOP 20 FAVORITE MOVIES.

If you would like me to draw a cartoon of your very own, feel free to go to my blogger profile and email me! I don't bite..

WELCOME TO MY WORLD

2010-07-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, secret projects that I have been hard at work on with some friends are still under way.. which means it's still just a little longer of a wait before I can reveal to everyone what the big honkin' deal is.

I don't want my blog to die in the meantime, so until I can let the cat out of the bag I'm gonna try to do some fun filler posts to keep you all entertained. Before I just go ahead and steal Zach's idea for a cool blog post, I asked him permission to do this first! I just thought it was a really awesome idea for a blog entry, so without further ado, maybe you'd like to see the wonders and forbidden truths of... MY BEDROOM!

This is the top of the staircase which my bedroom is right by. You'll notice lots of awesome art and nifty toys. Be prepared to see a LOT more.

Right outside my door. D'awww.

Then... we enter! To begin the tour, here's a shot of the whole room. After that, let's turn slightly to the right.

This is the top of my computer desk. Yes those are bottles of Moxie.

My computer station. This is where the magic happens. And by magic, I mean the boring acts of drawing my cartoons, editing my short films, and much useless internet surfing.

Slightly above the desk I have lots of wonderful art by friends! I have a crapload of art from my pals Kali, Ben and Shawn Dickinson scattered all over the place. I just love their stuff. Friends = good.

To the left of my computer desk is my world-famous DVD collection. Many people have told me that my DVD collection is the biggest and best they've seen. These shelves couldn't fit into the entire photo, plus they are only my live-action movies... the TV show DVDs and animated features DVDs are located elsewhere!

Miss Boop is here to escort you towards the rest of the tour. The rows and columns of DVDs under my TV are my animated features collection.

Above my TV are some more earthly treasures! This is a tiny portable TV that is at the very youngest 20 years old. It just looks so cool and futuristic/retro. I found it while thrifting at Savers. Also on the wall is Skadi, and various presents from friends like Ben, Katie Rice, Miss Withers and Kyle Carrozza!

Here is my HUGE Edie piece, and on my closet door the very early makings of a pin/button/badge collection. I only started it recently so this corkboard is gonna be massive as time goes on. Do you see Lady Gaga hiding?

More lovely art on the wall by the closet and window. Inside the closet are boring clothes and way too much video equipment and props so I won't bore you with that!

Great Marlo art and actress heroes of mine.

This picture of Bill Murray is the first thing I see when I wake up every day.

Lots of Shawn art, toys, Alice teacups, Comic-Con film festival award.. and these rows of DVDs are my collections of TV series.

Hello lamp.

More great art. Presidents toys. My Bugs Bunny doll I've had since the day I was born. He's only 25 1/2 years old!

Boooooooks books books.

And back around to where we came in, the back of my bedroom door. Amazing art by John K and Kali up top, and don't forget.. SPAGETT!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tune in for my next fun filler post: NICO'S TOP 20 FAVORITE MOVIES.

HAAAAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!

2010-07-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

At last, one of the MANY art/cartoon projects I've had to keep hush-hush secret, can finally be shown! Happy birthday to my partner in crime(!) and close friend BEN!!!!

Drawn and animated by: Nico Colaleo (a.k.a. ME)

Jo voiced by: Zoë Moss

"Jo the Faux" character copyright Benjamin Anders

Would you like to see some finished keys from my "animation pro-cess"? Of course you would.

Jo would like to serve you some piping hot 'TUDE. Fresh!

I haven't forgotten about this blog, I swear! I am working on lots of art that just cannot be shown at this time. Just a little while longer though, and all of these answers and secrets will finally be revealed!!

GOLDEN APPLE AFTERMATH

2010-06-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who visited our booth. Much fun was had!

If all that wasn't cool enough, Golden Apple Comics said they want us to come back! They want us to have a booth on a Sunday morning/afternoon once a month. Score!!

COME SEE NICO CARTOONS AT GOLDEN APPLE!

2010-06-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

THIS SUNDAY,

JUNE 6TH IN HOLLYWOOD!

If you live in LA, come visit me and a few of my friends at Golden Apple Comics this weekend! We're having a booth where we'll be selling artwork and various goodies, drawing caricatures, rubbing elbows, and goofing off with fellow cartoon lovers and comic book shoppers.

You'll also get to meet Scribble and Skarfy!!!

It's all happening from 11am to 3pm. It's going to be a load of fun, so come on down and hang out!

If you can't make it but still want some art from me, I am happily taking cartoon commissions of all kinds right now. Email me at colaleo(at)gmail(dot)com and let's talk, I'd be glad to hear from you!

OH, BLOG!

2010-05-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

Hello my old friend. I'm sorry I'm still abusing you, and having you stuck sitting in the dark lumpy backseat, while everything else that's going on in my life is relaxing up front in the captain's chair with me. It won't be this way forever, I promise!

And while the truth is that I'm drawing a bunch lately, unfortunately it's still all things that cannot be shown at this time. Top secret stuff! Stuff that's coming and will be announced very, very soon. So in the meantime, here I go making a "cheater" post with other people's work! Here is artwork from all my wonderful pals who have drawn Scribble and Skarfy fanart for me since I created them. I guess a post of some kind is better than nothing at all, and I just want a place to put them all so there is easy access and reference to these gems. Enjoy!

Shawn Dickinson

Kali Fontecchio

Benjamin Anders

Tara Billinger

Zach Bellissimo

Scott Forbes

Jenny Colaleo

Cheyenne Hope Curtis

Amir Avni

Katie Rice

Zoë Moss

Callie Gibbons

Tekena Travis

John Kricfalusi

I am completely undeserving of love and hard work of this caliber. Thank you ALL for drawing these for me, they are incredible and so appreciated. Scribble and Skarfy say thanks too, they are so flattered! :)

(pictured L-R: Mariella Morton, Jenny Colaleo)

It'll be a little while until next time, as soon as I can draw stuff that can actually be shared. Prepare for a BIG announcement in the next post!

HAPPY (very belated) BIRTHDAY, MARI!

2010-05-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

For my wonderful pal Mariella. Happy 21st, babe!

Watch Mari at her finest... PEELING OUT!

DEAD BLOG

2010-04-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my dead blog! Yes, the once-living blog that I used to update at least once a week with happy cartoon fun is now a MySpace-esque wasteland of forgotten internet assortments. This is all in part due to myself being one of two things: too busy with work/interviews for new jobs/making videos/just going out and being social, and too lazy to just sit down and update this thing.

But while I have been drawing, it's all been secret stuff that I cannot share at this time. Most of these secret drawings are all for a huge, HUGE project coming soon that is top secret right now. I think the only thing I can show from that is possibly this:

Perhaps even that gives too much away. And two other little drawings have been kept a secret up until right now. Allow me to present them... now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!!!

Zach's birthday was the 15th, and Molly's is today! So if you haven't yet wished either of them a happy one, go do it!! GO!

For those who don't know yet, I recently bought a new car!! Her name is Phoebe, the little blue 2010 Ford Mustang. She is ACTUALLY this bright of a blue! So vintage-y and cooool.

I'm not afraid to say this about my drawing: a million times cuter and more appealing than anything from Pixar's CARS, am I right?

Playing around with this in Photoshop afterwards, I thought it looked cool when I got rid of the outlines and played with the shading a little.. Kind of looked more 50's style, maybe ever Mary Blair-esque, which is pretty much the initial design I was going for in the first place. Phoebe is very Susie the Little Blue Coupe in her own right.

That's about all for now! If you're still actually following this blog after such a long time that it has been neglected by me, you have my utmost surprise and thanks. And I guess if you actually want to follow me and see what my life is like beyond cartoons, my Tumblr is right here.

Y'know. If you're into that sort of thing. Bye!

THANK YOU

2010-04-04T02:56:00.000-07:00

Shot a couple of weeks ago, this short video screened at the Loft Cinemas this past Friday night and we got a pretty big audience attendance. Plus they loved it! We received a super enthusiastic and great response, so thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting us. Now that it has debuted on a theater screen I figure it'd be good to post online for the rest of you fine folks to watch.

Made by yours truly, Alex Italics and Mariella Morton. Enjoy!

BEST BIRTHDAY EVER?

2010-03-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HAPPY!! JOY!!!!!

2010-03-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

Look what John and Kali made for me! An early birthday present!!!

I am completely geeking out over this. Thank you both sooo much!

Very busy lately, also back in the works of some short films. I haven't had time or energy to draw at all, hence the lack of updates here. But stay patient my Pep-Peps, fun things are coming!

Here are a couple commercials we made last week, for Kali...

GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS

2010-02-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

This post is extremely girly, so watch out!

Here is Zooey Deschanel in this strange portrait style I've been going through as of late. I've been told this is the prettiest piece I have ever drawn. Interesting! Also flattering. :)

As I'm getting more and more prepared for my Scribble and Skarfy webcomics, I'm starting to add more characters to their universe. Below is one of my first quick sketches of Skarfy's little sister, Margot! She's 8-years old and loves her older sister Skarfy! She's very happy, sweet, and energetic. She also has a very spunky attitude.. I'm basing a lot of her personality on Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird.

Her physical appearance is actually based on a little girl whom I saw while out about a week ago. I swear, this mom and dad had one of the cutest daughters of all time. Her hair was brown, short and fluffy, and she had flip flops on her feet while wearing this HUGE baggy sweater. She was adorable! So I felt like drawing her.

All I'm really working on right now is her color scheme. I'm pretty partial to the first example of a purple sweater, but I like the middle blue one too. Hmm.
Here is Kali's lovely noggin, below! She actually drew the original sketch for this, but never got around to doing anything with it. So I inked and colored over her pencils just for fun. I rather like how it turned out, I hope she does too!

A little drawing for Ben! This is his character Taxi Cab, inspired by our mutual hero Edie Sedgwick. I really like how this came out, mostly because I got just a tiny bit closer to the awesomeness and cuteness of how Ben always draws her!

Lately I am pretty obsessed with Edie all over again, actually. Here is my best crack at her during this weird half-realism/half-cartoony phase I'm having.

Lastly- my current profile photo over on Facebook. Heh.

Thanks for looking!

LYFE IN 2010

2010-01-26T04:29:00.000-08:00

I've been working almost EVERY NIGHT lately! I'm so busy being tired from work and social with friends that drawing has been a little on the backburner lately. But I am forcing myself to come back online for a moment and share my latest stuff with you nice people!

Scribble and Skarfy appear in a poster you might hang in a guidance counselor's office. Rub their bellies for good fortune!

(the ink, and pre-textured color)

BIG NEWS!

I'm having a really great time drawing Scribble and Skarfy lately, but I think that simple one-piece drawings (like the one above) aren't enough for them. So I've decided that I'm honestly and truthfully going to start doing Hipstergirls webcomics. Yay!!

I've come up with a little over a dozen ideas for strips so far, and I'm getting more all the time. It'll be a while before the comics debut, but trust me when I say that you won't wanna miss 'em!

Remember the girls' new friend Jen that I talked about in the last post? Well since then I've given her a bit of a visual overhaul, just like I was planning to. Lots of minor changes, but they all add up to a character design that I'm now much more satisfied with.

Below is a SUPER quick crapdoodle of all three girls, just for height comparisons.

Here's something funny-
I was looking through my files and found a Jo the Faux comic I made for Ben in April 2009 that I completely forgot to ever post up here. Oh well, 10 months late is better than nothing. Yes, that is Ben and me as his characters in the last panel!

Lastly, here's my awesome pals Mariella and Rev. Alex Italics! All these years and I finally get around to drawing them together. Took me long enough!

CARTOONS for $CASH$!!

I'm actively taking art commissions again!
Want a drawing of one of my characters?
How about one of your characters?
Cute girls, wacky forest animals, caricatures?
Click the banner below to make it happen!

WE RIDE!!!

2010-01-04T02:00:00.000-08:00

Let's kick 2010 off to a crazy start!

(the ink)

This action movie poster-type image of Scribble and Skarfy in a runaway car came to me one night and I couldn't stop laughing. I had to draw it.

Here's a new character I'm making based off a girl I met at a club a couple weeks ago, named Jen. She looked exactly like this, at least as close as I can remember.
Scribble and Skarfy look up to her as the ultimate vision of "cool". They are Jen's biggest fans and hope to be just as cool as her by the time they turn 24. Jen is pretty busy with her ultra-social life and her many other mid-20s hipster/angry punk youth friends, but she lets Scribble and Skarfy hang around her sometimes. She lets them come to her whenever they need guidance because she thinks their naivety and idolization of her is cute. So she's sort of their wise mother figure, their oracle, in a way (even if her advice usually just gets the girls into more trouble).

That's a super quick drawing of Jen, I'm still toying with her design and I don't really know if I like it just yet. I'll continue to tinker though. tinker tinker tinker.

Here's a bad drawing of Lady Gaga!

Hmmm. Wallpaper, anyone? :)

(click for full-size)

LAST OF THE GIFTS, LAST OF THE YEAR

2009-12-30T00:05:00.000-08:00

Last post of the decade! Here's the last couple of holiday gifts- actually commissions, for my pals Kelly, Daryl and Sergio! Here is Sergio below. What a badass!

And here is a commission for my friend Kelly of her sister Daryl! Rawk on!

I got a couple of gifts over for the holidays myself! Extremely AWESOME ones!!

Look at what Molly and Carl got for me! I've been wanting a Holga camera forever and they quite literally read my mind on this one. I can't wait to get some film and try this bad boy out.

And Kali drew this SUPER CUTE drawing of Maude and Dumb-Dumb for me! Eeee! How amazingly adorable, I love Maude so much (might have a crush). Plus their little christmas tree is so bushy and cute to boot!

Also, HAPPY BOXING DAY?? Marl threw an awesome British-themed party to celebrate this Brit post-Christmas holiday. You could come as any character from english literature, music, film or TV. Here's me as Mr. D. P. Gumby!

Carlwork Orange and Molly rocks Bowie.

Jess as everyone's favorite British trainwreck.

I soon found out that Hellen and I both had the EXACT SAME IDEA!!!!! Oh just imagine the laughter that ensued.

There's a bunch more photos up on my facebook as well, check 'em out! Anyway. I've already got my next post planned with more cartoons from yours truly, so until then.. See you next year!

XMAS GIFTS!!! pt. 3

2009-12-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hey, more holiday presents!! These below are for my two little Christmas angels, Zach and Tara!! Here's Tara as sweet and happy as ever, with her best pal Dr. Scoops. Although Scoops is not quite sure what to make of this whole "Xmas" thing that the silly humans do.

(the ink)

...and, here's a gift only fit for the true King of all Wild Things: Zach!! I paid special close attention to the textures on this one to try once again to go for that "storybook look". It's actually quite a hard thing to do when you're working on cartoons strictly digitally.

(the ink)

The last of the Xmas gifts, plus the aftermath of my holidays, all coming next post! Stay tuned!

MERRY GRINCHMAS

2009-12-24T01:52:00.000-08:00

I'll get back to sharing holiday gifts in a couple days, but for right now, here's a little holiday cartoon fun from yours truly.

I love Dr. Seuss and the Grinch is no exception. I wanted to have this piece be as "storybook-looking" as possible with using the Grinch's original design from the book, but having Cindy Lou-Who in the design of the animated short. I just love her in the Chuck Jones cartoon!

Hope you all like this, and have happy holidays wherever you are and whomever you're with!

XMAS GIFTS!!! pt. 2

2009-12-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

Xmas Gifts Week continues! This below is for my dear pals Ricky and Sibylle Garduno, the masterminds behind 1930 Nightmare Theatre!

(the ink)

XMAS GIFTS!!! pt. 1

2009-12-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

for Ben! Scribble and Skarfy fawn over the cuteness of Jo Minkus.

(the ink)

for Scott! His lovely character Matildha.

(the ink)

MARL WEDDING

2009-12-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

Molly and Carl got married!!!!!! Yes it was a month ago, but I wanted to wait until after they returned from their honeymoon to share this gift I drew for them.
Here's the ink.

It was a beautiful, fantastic, crazy-fun wedding. Here's a professional photo representing just a little slice of how it was. Taken by the amazing Sergio!!

I've been drawing a TON lately but it's all gifts and holiday surprises for friends, so I can't show them here just yet! But keep visiting here in the days following up to Christmas... I'll be posting everything soon!

NEW DECADE? NEW LOGO!

2009-12-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

New logo for NicoCartoons.blogspot.com! Just something fun I whipped up, so why not? Here's a hi-rez of Scribble in the logo...

...and here's Skarfy!
And for the sake of posterity, here's the 2009 logo.

Hope you all like the new logo! Bring on 2010!

LOVE FOR THE HIPSTERGIRLS!

2009-12-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Wow- you like them, you really like them!
I'm kind of overwhelmed how much everyone likes Scribble and Skarfy! I only created them a couple months ago, but a few of my pals have created fanart for them! I'd love to share them here.

This below is by Jenny and it's incredible! Realistic Skarfy! Haha, awesome! And yes, she's reading Twilight!

Kali takes on the girls! Sooo cute. Plus hand-drawn on paper!! This is definitely going on my wall.
BONUS! Kali sketch pre-markered!
Ben Ben Ben!!! His Skarfys are so adorable and his Scribble kicks ass! Love the detail in her hair. Ben also went the extra mile and drew what Skarfy MIGHT look like behind her scarf! Haha, nice!
Aww, it's Skarfy Katie-fied!! What makes this even cooler is the "Disney Television Animation" print at the top. It looks like behind-the-scenes art for a Scribble and Skarfy series on Disney Channel or something. haha!!
THESE two below are real treats, by the wonderfully cute stylings of Cheyenne! How awesome is this below??

And not one, but TWO fanarts! Hooray! Look at them dance! Also, you nailed their floppy boobies. Thanks Chenny!!
Thank you EVERYONE! The girls thank you too!

THE WORLD OF SCRIBBLE AND SKARFY

2009-11-20T05:08:00.000-08:00

I'm slowly developing the world of these hipstergirls, Scribble and Skarfy! I really love these characters, so I've been coming up with tons of ideas and stories for eventual short webcomics and cartoons I wanna make with them. Here's just a little bit of what I've been coming up with.

Wanting to add more characters to this universe than just the girls, Scribble has a boyfriend named Cliff. A hipster dude of course, complete with hair in is eyes, a man-scarf, vest, and tighty tight black jeans. This is only my first in some concept sketches I've done of him, I wanna see if I can work more at making him a tad more appealing.

Skarfy on the other hand is a loner and is completely content spending nights relaxing in her room with a book and some Radiohead records. But that doesn't stop Cliff's fat hipster friend from always trying to make the moves on her. Poor Skarfy!

Here's just an average day in the lives of two 20-year old LA scenesters.

But life isn't all fun! The girls have day jobs too. Persistent to associate herself with only the utmost non-mainstream world of fashion and culture, there's no more obvious choice for Scribble's career than at the hippest of the HIPPEST in clothing retail... Urban Outfitters. Of course.

I've met plenty of real-life Scribbles in the form of Urban employees during my visits to these stores. They may be there to ring up your purchases and guide you towards the fitting rooms, but that doesn't mean they're not gonna serve you up some hot 'n fresh 'TUDE while doing it.

The more artistic type, and with a true love for the most alternative music and indie films, it's only fitting for Skarfy to work at America's largest independent record store.

A surly Amoeba cashier helping clueless customers find music and movies, this is Skarfy's view for 8 hours a day.

So there's a little bit of what I've got so far. I can't wait to keep developing this series. I hope you're excited too!

Here's a goofy doodle I did while I was bored. UH-OH SOMETHING'S DIFFERENT

Finally I'd like to present a little gift for my awesome pal, and yours, Zach Bellissimo!! I wanted to draw some fanart of his cool character Jillyan, and while doing so, I seemed to add in my girls as well. I hope you like it, Zach! Everyone go to his blog if you want to see his own drawings of Jill!

Scribb and Skarfy's #1 priority is to be the hippest kids in the room, but as soon as someone cooler walks in, the girls drop EVERYTHING and start taking notes. They are very eager to learrrrrn!

Here's just the ink for Jillyan.

Thanks for reading. I have more surprises to post soon... plus Scribble and Skarfy fanart by my friends! I'm so honored. Okay see you all next time!

READY FOR HALLOWEEN? ANGORA NAPKIN IS HERE!

2009-10-30T01:30:00.000-07:00

The cartoon I have been anticipating all year has finally landed!

Troy Little and Nick Cross' Angora Napkin!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH NOW!!

This link will only be good for the next 7 days, because the site is featuring it for one week only! So check it out while you can, and make sure to vote for it so it can be picked up for a series!

This is a great cartoon. It has a little bit of everything for everyone. For example: it's got funny girls!

It also has zombies!

Don't forget uncomfortable situations!

...and plenty of boobie jokes!

So stop reading this, and click on the thing on the computer to watch
the Angora Napkin pilot right now!!

(don't be a lazy bum! do it!)

Below is some fanart I did for Troy and Nick back in July. Thanks for featuring it on the site guys!

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF AWESOME

2009-10-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

I had the great experience of seeing Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs a few weeks ago, and was blown away! This movie gives me hope for the future of CGI animated features after all. This is a real cartoon, from beginning to finish, and it's not afraid to show it. Funny walk cycles, eyes popping out, double takes, and all kinds of cartoony fun that most every other CG movie today would not dare to go to.

If you haven't seen it yet, do it (especially in 3D or IMAX)! Hopefully it inspires other studios to stop being scared of taking advantage of this art form, and to take more chances at being cartoony and entertaining.

So much like my Coraline post from earlier this year, this post isn't much else than a simple entry to share and keep track of all the cool concept artwork for Cloudy that I've been collecting over the intenet. These pieces are credited to artists Pete Oswald, Armand Serrano, Kris Pearn and David Gibson. And as always, if you really like this movie and the art you see here, buy the art-of book!

MORE HEAD BUDDIES

2009-10-08T02:42:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly but surely adding to my side list of BUDZONE heads! This time I've added the lovely and ever-crafty Jess, plus my two wonderful misfits Zach and Tara!

Z&T are new drawings, so here are the higher-rez versions to show off.
Go to all of my friends' blogs! GUARANTEED FUN FOR ALL
Bonus: "Skarfy's New Toy"

SCRIBBLE AND SKARFY!

2009-10-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

So maybe you remember my drawings of various hipster girls from a little while ago? Well I particularly liked these two girlies the most, and I think I see some potential for a couple of fun characters.

Scribble and Skarfy are best friends and are not unlike any average 20-year old girls you could see within a short trip around your local shopping mall ("Scribble" and "Skarfy" are only the nicknames they refer to themselves as, of course... they have real birth-given names, maybe someday you'll find out what they are!)

Every day is a new adventure for them and their other scene kid friends. They love to do all sorts of things, including standing around outside of nightclubs, shopping at American Apparel, and causing hour and a half-long wait times for all the hippest noodle and rice-bowl restaurants in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.

I just this moment found this via Google image search-
OMG, IT'S SCRIBBLE IN REAL LIFE!!!!!

While Scribble is the schemer and always the one doing the talking, Skarfy keeps a lot to herself. She hides behind her fashionable scarf, and her collection of thick-rimmed glasses that Buddy Holly or Audrey Hepburn made popular decades ago. NOTE: Being a hipster, she does not actually need prescriptions in any these glasses... she can see just fine without them.

Don't you see folks like this when you go out to parties?

There are transparent rough sketches adorning the background of the character model sheets above, and here they are on their own:

I'm not too much farther into developing these characters than what you see here, but I've got plenty of ideas for them and I think I'm going to be doing some little webcomics about them in the near future. I'm excited to see what'll be coming up!

That's all for now! Thanks for looking.

GUYS, WHAT HAPPENED TO MOVIE POSTERS?

2009-09-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

When you live in a place like Los Angeles like I do, naturally you're going to see lots of film posters, billboards, ads and so forth while you're out walking or driving around. After all, movies are what this city is known for. As time goes on you get kind of numb to it, but there's one thing that a lot of today's movie posters have in common that never fails to make me grit my teeth. And what is that one thing, you may ask?

MOVIE POSTERS ARE BORING AS HELL.

Take a look at the next few posters (remember, all from different movies), and see if you can spot the things they have in common.

Have you figured it out yet? That's right, by far the trendiest thing to have in your modern movie poster is a plain white background, and a shot of your 1-2 main characters in a pose that is not very exciting.

THIS IS A BORING IDEA.

In fact, this new breed of movie posters is SO unexciting, that it leaves me wondering what entices a theatergoer to even want to see the movie in the first place.

But it could just be me. I mean, who wouldn't want to see a movie that offers you something as absolutely irresistible as this?

How about this? Isn't it just gripping, the way our friends Paul and Jason are just.. y'know... standing there?

These posters are like goofy family portraits.
Oops, we have more than two characters in the movie below. Let's just shrink them down reeeeeally far tiny! There, that's better. Now they have plenty of space to stand around and do nothing in their worldless white void.

I think the American Pie movies are the ones who birthed this idea of the boring movie poster. It's as far back as I can recall this hip trend being around.

Some more edge-of-your-seat advertisement.

This poster below looks like an ad for Walmart or something.

Funny People! Aren't these the funniest-looking people? I mean, look how funny they're being in the poster. How funny! This movie is sure to be a laugh riot.

Now we see Seth Rogen, who has helped pave the way for a bright and interesting-looking future for movie posters. Notice how every poster he is in is a close-up of his face, appearing either confused or bewildered.

Rogen in his next blockbuster, looking incredibly
exciting to watch for the next 90 minutes.

This soon branched out and gave way to a SUB-LEVEL of boring movie posters: The "close-up of a person's face just staring" movie poster.

THRILLING!!!!!

I hope you can catch your breath after all these overwhelmingly zestful posters. Now I'd like to torture you a little by showing you some posters that are the exact opposite. Posters that are interesting to look at and have some kind of artistic quality to them. YUCK! Who wants to look at movie posters that actually make you WANT to see the movie, I mean really!!

CRAP DUMP

2009-09-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series. She's really weird-looking and cute!

Luna practices
True-life Jiji comics

Sarah Silverman

While Ben was visiting a few weeks ago, he gave me an idea for a redesign of my character Debbie's outfit

Madonna from the opening cartoon sequence of "Who's That Girl"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!!!

2009-09-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Go wish my wonderful friend a heppy-happy one! Here she is having just another ordinary day with Luna and Little Ricky (aka BABYCAT!)

NICO DOES NIGHTMARE THEATER

2009-09-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Dumm Comics allowed me to guest again!
Click on Kimbo to check it out.

HIPSTER GIRLS

2009-09-07T00:25:00.000-07:00

FALLEN PRINCESSES

2009-08-13T03:02:00.000-07:00

Brilliant photography by Dina Goldstein. Wonderfully twisted stuff! Thanks to my good friend The Workshop Cooker for bringing these to my attention.

THIS ONE'S A SHORTY

2009-08-07T02:11:00.000-07:00

So Wells Fargo has this cool feature where you can customize the background of your credit cards. For free!! So a while ago I had these babies made:

Jo the Faux is my debit card, and Kali drew a special Maude Macher for my credit card! How awesome is that??!

Still kinda recuperating from the past week's fun, so not too much for this post today. Callie and I have started this thing lately where we are going back and forth drawing girls for each other. I took a break from the wacom tablet and roughed out a couple kids.

It's been a while since I haven't drawn on the Wacom! I think I need to re-educate myself in how to apply pen to paper. Bleh. Here's some kind of Louise Brooks-ian character. Dancing insecurely?

HEY, everyone check out Ben's blog and buy a beautiful print, like the one below! Don't you want this to be hanging in the sanctity of your bedroom wallspace? I sure do. Click it below to check out his sales and contact him!

Ben and Scott are hitting LA in a couple weeks to visit! We're all so excited!!!!!

Ok, that's all for this time. I give this post 4 out of 5 Jiji heads!

I'LL HAVE A BUTTERSCOTCH SUNDAE, I GUESS.

2009-08-01T04:19:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna fiddle around and attempt to draw some of my favorite film characters. Here is Margot Tenenbaum from one of my favorite films, The Royal Tenenbaums!

Looks like Ben, Scott and I were on a Margot kick this week, so we all drew her and seemed to kinda made a theme out of it. I love this movie!

It's a very special someone's birthday today! Go wish one of my besties, the ever-lovely Jess, a happy one! Here she is with her two pups Milo and Hannah.

Milo is just the sweetest little thing and Hannah is entirely the opposite. I mean, she's adorable but just SO mischievous. She is always up to something! Sneaky somethings. Also here is Jess and I being lovable.

Aaand here's a gift for Kyle, in exchange for the wonderful Strawberry Fields piece he gave to me earlier this week!! Strawberry hangs out on my head and I am entirely not as cute in real life as I drew myself here. Oh well.

COMIC-CON '09 TREASURES

2009-07-29T03:59:00.000-07:00

LOOKIT WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN...

2009-07-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

...It's ANGORA NAPKIN!!!!!

I LOVE Angora Napkin, and I hope you like my fan-art above! This graphic novel, turned recently-completed animated pilot, is created by Troy Little and Nick Cross and it is AMAZING good fun. Buy the graphic novel here and visit the official blog here to VOTE and help get the pilot picked up for a cartoon series on Teletoon in Canada!

The animation world definitely needs something this cool right now, so DO IT UP!!! Mallory commands it!

Also-

COMIC-CON ALERT!!

Wow, it's already that time of year again. I'm off to San Diego. Who's going to Comic-Con this weekend?? I'll be wandering around aimlessly on Friday and Saturday and will also be at John K's booths with Kali and the gang. Times are here:

Usually I'd tell everyone to check back here afterwards for my full Comic-Con report in photos, but things are different this year: Just follow my LIVE TWEETINGS and get the scoop while it's all happening! Score!!

Be back in a week! BTW, if you find me at the Con and say hi, you'll get a free hug! (high-five, if you're a dude)

ONE LAST LOOK AT THE 80's

2009-07-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

To be honest, the past three 80's tributes I've drawn and posted here are really the only animated shows produced during that decade that I actually watched. All the other cartoons I watched were already older classics; Looney Tunes, Disney, Tom & Jerry and so on. So today here's some cartoon drawings of two very special LIVE-ACTION 80s shows that were, and still are, very dear to my heart.

If you are an IRL friend of mine then you'll know that even to this day, I LOVE Fraggle Rock. I think it's only proper that I finally draw them. My final piece is the photo above. Here are some of my inks below!

And now..... let us do The Dance of Joy!!!
Perfect Strangers is a show about the corniest characters living together in the corniest situation, produced during the corniest years of the American sitcom. It's so corny.. that's it BEYOND awesome. It's such a great show!!!

Who couldn't love Balki and Cousin Larry?

Oh-kay,
I think I'm all 80s'ed out. Thanks for looking, everyone! Now to get back to preparing for Comic-Con next week. Check out one of the shirts John K. will be selling at his booth!

JRAWING JIJI

2009-07-14T02:15:00.000-07:00

This is Jiji's arch-enemy, the Arrowhead™ brand water bottle cap. She goes INSANE with this thing. It rolls around and she chases after it, then once she finally captures it she holds it just like it's buried treasure.

This is what Jiji does on top of my head. Followed soon by slumber.

This is Jiji staring at us in the kitchen as she thinks we are preparing food for her. Below that is what happens when it just turned out to be me making a turkey sandwich for myself.
We think she has what it takes to be a kitty model. What do you think of her diva pose?

It's late. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!

2009-07-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

(UPDATE: Never OVER-estimate the United States postal service! I would have made this post on the correct day, three days ago, but these pieces took extra long to get delivered so I had to keep them under wraps for a little while longer. ANYway...)

Go wish the dynamic brothers Ben and Scott a most happiest of birthdays this week! Ben is one of my best friends and when I'm feeling uninspired or crummy about my own art (which is way too often), he's one of the only people that can kick my ass and force me to bounce right back to being motivated. So if you like any of my cartoons, go and thank him for being one of my biggest influences!

I really like how my Betty came out. I tried to do true justice to the character by drawing her in the original dog-girl style, complete with puppy ears, that Grim Natwick helmed. Here's my ink below. Boop-a-doop!

What's interesting about the piece above is that it's my first time coloring with actual fancy markers that are used by all those bigshot cartoonists you like. Actually, they are Kali's fancy markers that she let me borrow. What a gal!

The girl on the left is our shared obsession, 60's socialite Edie Sedgwick!

And if you don't know who the middle character is by this time, then shame on you because you shouldn't even be at this blog! Don't forget, Jo is coming soon to a webcomic near you!

She even created a comic for her beloved creator on his special day.

bweeeheheheheheheheheheeee

DUMMCOMICS.COM 2: THE SEARCH FOR THE RETURN OF THE VENGENCE

2009-07-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

Remember earlier this year when I won a guest spot on Dumm Comics?

Well........

CLICK HERE
FOR UNTOLD HORRORS

Here's my submission! I hope everyone likes it, but most of all, I hope it lives up to a mere iota of the greatness of Ricky Garduno's creation. And I want to thank him and the entire Dumm Comics gang for throwing this contest, and for every comic strip they create and share with us undeserving heathens!

Show 'em some looooove.

BRACE YOURSELF

2009-06-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Someone's blog reaches 100 posts today.

So to celebrate, here's a new addition to the site- my ragtag team of artist friends have gotten their very own special cartoony heads that I've drawn for my side links! A stolen idea from Kali's blog! And now also stolen from Zach Bellissimo's blog, since he beat me to it by only a couple weeks! It's okay though. It's a cool idea and it's only catching on, is all!

Recent breakout rap artist and maker of all things happy, Kali!!

Total BFF and genius sketch artist, Molly!!

Cute cartoon critter master and extremely talented boy wonder, Ben!!

Universal virtuoso and my very own adorable cousin, Jenny!!

Force of unstoppable cartoon brilliance and my greatest hero, Katie!!

Now THIS is what I call an anniversary present!!

Thank you so much, Katie and Luke!!!

Look! Here's what happens when you're at a pizza restaurant with John and there are placemats on the table.

kali is so sweet

Well gosh! Thank you, everyone, for visiting here and reading the past 100 posts of cartoon happiness and harmony. Here's to another hundred!

Hmm.. maybe the party invitations just got lost in the mail.

p.s.
Y HULO THAR

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT 80s??

2009-06-04T00:15:00.001-07:00

My version of 80s cartoons continues! Here's one that I'm sure a lot of you remember, and I watched religiously as a little kid- DANGER MOUSE

This was a really strange British animated series with, I'm assuming, an extremely low budget; because every other scene had at least one recycled shot from the scene we just saw a moment ago. They must have had a total of about six drawings per episode, but no matter, it's weird characters and pure Britishness made up for it all the same!

Anyway, here's my hack roughs- looks like Jo the Faux managed to sneak herself in there somehow!

And this is just me messing with the layers in Photoshop, and then a happy accident occurred which made this turn out kinda cool-looking. Sweet!

Sorry there wasn't much to this post, but more 80s cartoons from Nico are on the way. See you next time!

I <3 THE 80s??

2009-05-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

My versions of 80s cartoons continue! I've asked most of my friends, and I'm convinced that Katie Rice is the only person besides myself who remembers this show... Here's my drawing of Maya the Bee!!

Maya was a children's anime show from Japan, and while it was originally produced in the mid-70s, it aired on Nick Jr. in the mid-late 80s and that's when I watched it. I remember it being SUPER cute!!

It was about this little girl bee named Maya and her adventures in the forest with her best pal Willie. They also had a grasshopper friend and some other supporting characters but the last time I saw this show was when I was 5, maybe 6, so the memories are a bit fuzzy!

Well hopefully my drawing gives justice to the show's cute factor. Here's the ink I did, pre-color/textures.

My takes on 80s cartoons continues soon, so keep checking back here!!

THE 80s ARE BACK??

2009-05-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's the same where you live, but when Kali and I go shopping together here in L.A. these are the kind of outfits that we see lately. The plain and simple truth is that the 80's are BACK!!!

It's so insane to be seeing VIBRANT, BRIGHT COLORS considered hip and stylish now. Remember when ZERO color and hip-hop clothes were in? Yeah, it was only a few years ago! So with this new trend of the decade I'M from, I thought it'd be fun to draw up my versions of some of my favorite animated shows I grew up with in the 1980s. Look for my next couple of posts to feature them!

Here's my first shot at one of my favorites: INSPECTOR GADGET

Despite a lot of limited animation and poor budget, I just like these characters a lot. Penny and Brain were always so cute! For those interested, here's what my crappy roughs and ideas look like before I scan them in and do the computer/tablet thing.

And here's just the ink, before background, colors and textures.

My takes on 80s cartoons continues next post, so stay tuned!

THE TOP 11 GREATEST CARTOON TAKES

2009-05-24T02:29:00.000-07:00

I'm back, with another tops list! You know, one of the earliest elements of animation is the cartoon "take". We've all seen them; heads shrinking or expanding in shock, tongues stretching outward, and of course eyes bugging out with plenty of pulsating veins. But what are the most creative, outrageous, and CRAZIEST takes to ever be animated? Today's post aims to find out. It's...

#11:

Donald Duck
in Der Fuehrer's Face

A crazy cartoon take from the Disney studio's animated library was actually extremely hard for me to find. In fact, compared to most of the takes that'll be in this list, this is pretty tame. The truth of the matter is, Disney just wasn't as outrageous as the other Hollywood cartoon studios. The ending of this World War II-themed short dares to be different however, in which Donald is having a nightmare that he is a factory worker in Nazi Germany. As he starts going mad, his head stretches up like E.T., then as he starts babbling he suddenly gets extremely wonky and wiggly! Even though it's not too weird, it's definitely one of the most insane scenes to ever come out of Disney.

#10:

Homer Simpson
in Treehouse of Horror V

Now I know what you might be thinking... how the hell did a clip from The Simpsons manage to get on a list like this? Well, just take a look at it. As Homer goes mentally insane a la Jack Torrence in The Shining, he suddenly starts getting really crazy-looking. Look at the animation and how exaggerated, rubbery, and well, actually CARTOONY he gets! Definitely a very rare moment for the normally-static Simpsons, and definitely deserving a spot on this list. BTW, Homer's scream at the end of the clip slays me!

#9:

Screwy Squirrel
in The Screwball Squirrel

Ah, what's a list about great cartoon takes without Tex Avery? Definitely one of the highest masters of animation, Tex practically invented the cartoon take. Here we see an early MGM short by Tex, featuring his short-lived character Screwy. When he suddenly realizes that he's played a gag on Meathead Dog that has gone too far even for HIM, Screwy grows multiple heads and- oh, just watch!

#8:

Wile E. Coyote
in Operation: Rabbit

Out of the dozens and dozens of films that Wile E. has appeared in along with the Roadrunner, my favorite appearances of him are by far only the couple of times in which he's been Bugs Bunny's adversary. There's so much more to his character in these ones, as this complete egomaniac who's obsessed with his own "super genius".

The reason his take is so great in this particular clip is that it ISN'T a big crazy reaction. He's completely still, except for his pupils shrinking. It's so simple, yet we can all tell the fear he's experiencing right here. I think one of Chuck Jones' biggest strengths was his ability to communicate a character's thoughts, feelings and motives while they barely have to even move. It's kind of the opposite of Tex Avery, in a way. Genius, or dare I say, super genius!!

#7:

Betty Boop and Bimbo
in Mysterious Mose

Would you ever believe that Betty Boop could have a cartoon take? You bet she can, especially while under the helm of the brilliant animation of Grim Natwick. Grim's Betty cartoons consist mostly of her earliest films, where she's not quite the Betty that the public is as familiar with today (she's not human in these, but a girl dog!). These cartoons are surreal, stranger than all hell, and downright works of art. This first clip is of Betty's reaction to Bimbo's crazy horn playing... look at the SIZE of her eyes as she looks on in complete terror!!!

And for good measure, and also because I couldn't possibly pass this shot up without sharing it here, another scene involves Bimbo doing a crazy dance in which his head flates and deflates into a multitude of different shapes. Ahh, pure cartoony goodness.

#6:

Roger Rabbit
in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

This scene from the movie is not only a great bunch of takes all back-to-back, but the entire sequence of what happens when Roger takes a shot of bourbon is one big homage to all the cartoon characters who have ever flipped out from a drink that's a bit too stiff (a.k.a. The Alcohol Take). Popeye, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Tex Avery characters- you name 'em, and they've most likely had a scene like this. So, Roger definitely deserves a spot on this list for an all-around fitting tribute, from an all-around great movie.

#5:

Daffy Duck
in Draftee Daffy

Here's a short (directed by my hero Bob Clampett) that definitely needs to be freeze-framed. As Daffy is trying to escape the Little Man From the Draftboard, to avoid being drafted into the US Army, he in constantly foiled time and time again as he simply cannot lose the little bugger. All of Daffy's freak-outs are brilliant in this short, but this one takes the cake.

Let's freeze-frame that sucker!

#4:

Tex Avery's Wolf
in Northwest Hounded Police

The same concept, from a different director. The Wolf tries to escape Sergeant Droopy of the Mounties, and no matter where he hides Droopy is right there waiting for him. This results in completely freaking the Wolf out more and more each time! But the biggest and best comes during this scene, where Droopy surprises him at the plastic surgeon's office. Look at those eyeball veins! Listen to that horrifying wild pig squeal! This might just be the creepiest cartoon take ever!

#3:

Tex Avery's Wolf
in The Shooting of Dan McGoo

You can't go wrong with Tex Avery's Wolf, as he grabs both numbers four AND three on this list. Here is an example of the "pretty girl take" (complete with wolf whistle), which we have all seen countless times again and again. But this is one of the very first ones, therefore the penultimate "pretty girl take"! It's the one that started it all. Beat it boys, ya bother me!

#2:

Ren Höek
in In The Army

Ren and Stimpy are known for bringing bulging eyeballs, throbbing veins and displays of complete insanity back to cartoons in the early 90's. But what can I possibly say about this take? It might be one of the most insane drawings ever put onto the animated screen. When Ren gets caught being lazy by the fearsome army sergeant, his skin literally MELTS off of his skull, which proceeds to explode outwards and is paired up with the most blood-curdling shriek you've ever heard. When I first saw this as a kid, I didn't know what to even think. It literally blew my mind. I think all I can remember saying was, "...can I watch that again??"

and the #1 greatest cartoon take is...!!

Daffy Duck
in Book Revue

Another tally for Daffy, another tally for director Bob Clampett, and one big fat shiny award for my favorite cartoon take ever. I think what is truly remarkable about this take is the sheer simplicity of it. Daffy doesn't lean back and his eyes bug out all crazy. Nor does his tongue stretch out or his body goes into twisty convulsions. Nope, none of that. Daffy simply transforms into ONE. GIANT. EYEBALL. That's IT. It's so sudden, so surreal, and yet so simplistic, that it's incredible to me. Do the honors, and enjoy for yourself!

Thanks for reading, and for watching!

ME OH MY, MUSIC AND MINKS

2009-05-18T01:20:00.000-07:00

So if you're a frequent visitor of my other blog, you'll know that I'm pretty obsessed with actress Zooey Deschanel. So I thought it was time to try and pay my own tribute to her!

Check her out! Here she is in a live action/animated music video for her band She & Him!

Concept/lazy turd art by me, for upcoming Jo the Faux webcomic!!

Practicing Jo as much as I can. I wanna make Ben proud!

Lately Kali and I have been religiously listening to this lovely lady during our car rides- folk ballad singer Joanna Newsom!!

Her voice is SO high-pitched and cute. She sounds like a little baby who can sing! Her music is like something you'd expect to hear in medieval times, except with crazy lyrics about stuff like paying the bills, or kicking her dinner in the face. With karate!!

Okay why not, I guess I'll show some of my crappy early roughs. These were just meant for practice in trying to figure out how to draw her. These are attempts only! Yucky. Actually I kind of like the top left one, though.
Thanks for looking! Bye-bye now!

HAPPY MUDDER'S DAY

2009-05-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent commission for my trusty blog readers Rich and Jeff. Thanks guys! Kowalski loves you.

I'm still open for paid commissions, folks!
Email me and I'll draw you some CARTOONS!!

And this is for my mommy.

Everyone better go give your mom a hug and kissy today, or else the Mother's Day goblin will come and EAT YOU ALIVE.

And here's some funny doodles Caseybug did of me! Haha, aww thanks Casey!! I need to return the favor soon! (wink, wink)

THE TOP 12 CATCHIEST DISNEY SONGS

2009-05-01T00:37:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, Disney has always been the animation studio that led the way for the music of Hollywood entertainment. There's no doubt about it; the tunes composed for the cartoon shorts, the animated features, and the theme parks are fun, clever, and some have even become staples in everyone's lives.

There are even some songs buried deep within the very fibers of Disney's history that you wouldn't even remember unless they were reminded of it, but once you do, it all starts coming back to you. But which of these songs are the most fun? The very catchiest? Or even the most "oh my god, this song WILL NOT LEAVE MY HEAD!!"? Today's post aims to find out. It's...

The Top 12 Catchiest Disney Songs!

#12:

Little April Shower
from Bambi

To start off, I've just gotta mention that this song literally comes out of nowhere! In a movie that could hardly even be considered a musical, Little April Shower is a random song about the simplest of all things: rain. It's out of nowhere, it's not exciting, and it's light as a feather. But boy is it catchy.

Even some of the animals in this musical interlude look a little confused as to why this random song about woodland precipitation is playing! But oh well, I love it. Drip, drip, drip!

#11:

The Ballad of Davey Crockett

This country favorite was part of the early Disneyland TV show, and it has definitely made its mark on the world since then. Davey Crockett and his coonskin cap were on the minds and heads of every kid of the baby boom era, and I'm sure the catchy theme song helped!

#10:

The Three Caballeros

Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, and Panchito Pistoles make up the trio of The Three Caballeros. With clever lyrics, zeppy pacing, and incredible animation lead by Ward Kimball, I can't say enough good things about this. It's simply one of the zaniest and best in Disney's musical history, hands (and pistoles) down!

#9:

Casey Jr.'s Theme
from Dumbo

Here's a interesting song, because there are two different versions... a short melody in the Dumbo film, and then a much longer song with extended lyrics in the form of a Casey Jr. train-ride attraction at the Disneyland theme park. So as both versions can be considered one song, I have to say that this is one tune that is stuck in my head forever once it chugs along through it.

This song actually gets me excited for some guy named Casey Jr. to come to my town and set up circus grounds. Once you give this tune a listen, you won't argue that it's the greatest one ever made for the track. Casey Jr.'s back!

#8:

Minnie's Yoo-Hoo

It's really funny how often this video clip keeps popping up on my blog. Regardless, it's still one of my favorite Mickey moments, as well as a pretty awesome song. It's also a very strange one. It's clearly not Mickey's usual voice, and the animation (especially in his mouth and lip sync) is way too bizarre and crazy for Disney! You'd think someone at Warner Bros. might have had a hand in it. While we may never know for sure, this is one finger-snapping yoo-hoo tune that won't ever leave our brains!

#7:

Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho
from Pirates of the Caribbean

A pirate's life for me! Before Johnny Depp, there was a boat-ride attraction with the catchiest song that you've ever heard come out of a theme park. That song belongs to, of course, Pirates of the Caribbean. This 42-year old ride is still floating along, and the song's popularity is no exception.

What's interesting is that for a song that's so popular, not many people know the full lyrics to it. In fact, "Yo, ho! Yo, ho! A pirate's life for me!" are the only words that most people know from it at all! So check out the video above and try to finally memorize those lyrics! And even if you can't, merely listening to this treasured pirate shanty will have it on your mind for days.

#6:

I Wanna Be Like You
from The Jungle Book

With big thanks to jazz artist Louis Prima, the immortal voice behind King Louie, this has got to be one of the biggest and best songs out of all the Disney features. The timing, pace, animation, is all genius.

As you listen to this, can you just imagine the real Louis Prima band playing this song and going absolutely nuts in the Disney recording room? You can really sense how much fun this was to record, because you simply cannot help but tap your foot to this beat. Believe me, I've tried.

#5:

The Merrily Song
from The Wind and the Willows

Starting off this film on the right foot, Mr. Toad and his new best pal Cyril enjoy a destructive ride through the countryside, merrily on the road to Nowhere At All. This song is ENGRAVED into my brain, it is THAT much fun to listen to. Hear for yourself!

The music is whimsical, the lyrics are fantastic, and the mere listening of it makes you wanna leap up and join the characters on their infamously wild ride. And any song that grabs you and sucks you in that much is more than eligible for this list's #5 spot.

#4:

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
from Song of the South

You'd think a song with a title that's just random gibberish wouldn't catch on and become tiresome after a while, but nope, Uncle Remus' happy country-side melody has become one of the most famous songs in the world.

Even though the Disney studios of today have done everything they can to sweep the actual "Song of the South" film under the rug and away from public knowledge, this song still comes out on top by being one of the most recognizable tunes from the studio's history. What other phrase can you say to describe it besides.. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

#3:

The Humphrey Hop
from In the Bag

This song from the extremely small series of 1950's Humphrey Bear cartoons was so catchy that it actually became its own hit record single! And why not? GOOD LORD, IT'S CATCHY AS HELL.

I cannot be more serious in saying that I can't stop thinking about this song once it enters my mind. It will never, ever, ever leave. I mean how do you even make a song about picking up garbage catchy? I have no friggen idea, but if anyone can do it, it's definitely Disney.

#2:

It's A Small World After All

Yyyyup. Love it or hate it, the feature song during the It's A Small World attraction at Disneyland is not only one of the simplest, catchiest songs you've ever heard, but its power is enough to drive even the strongest of minds insane.

I'm serious, this song can drive someone CRAZY.

This song is so irritating, so incredibly cheerful, so never-ending that we aren't sure what to feel when we hear it. Does it do it's job at portraying the children of the world, and uniting the countries and cultures of Earth as one? Who the hell knows? But one thing's for sure; it definitely deserves one of the highest spots on this list of memorable Disney tunes.

and the #1 catchiest Disney song is...!!

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
from The Three Little Pigs

Undeniably the most popular and important song to ever come out of the Disney studio. As soon as movie-goers looked at the Big Bad Wolf as a symbol of the Great Depression that was happening around them, this song literally took America by storm.

Toys, games, lyric books, record singles, kitchen appliances- you name it, the Big Bad Wolf song was on it. And exactly how often can a song actually help DEFINE a time period in America's history? Not. Bloody. Often. So if you ask me, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf has the history and the power all in it's own to deserve the #1 spot on Disney's Catchiest Songs list.

Thanks for reading, and especially for listening!