Katie Smith

This endearing piece is the submission of artist Katie Smith, a lover of all things superhero. Born in Virginia, Katie and her family moved to Germany when she was a child. She learned early on in life that drawing cartoons to make people laugh could avert attention away from her being the “new kid”, which helped when she and her family later on moved back to Virginia. Katie studied Studio Art and Art History, along with marketing, at The College of William & Mary. She then worked at Anthropologie where she drew on the dressing room mirrors with dry-erase markers when feeling bored and restless. Fleeing retail, she found work as a production coordinator at Pixeldust Studios, then landed her dream job at Blue Sky Studios where she is currently a Design Production Assistant. A contributor of her art to many collective projects including Purcasso, Terrible Yellow Eyes and The Picture Book Project, Katie’s work can also be found hanging on walls in the homes of her family members. A slew of Rockwell prints in her grandparents’ basement inspired her as a child, and being surrounded by the talent of her colleagues inspires her today.

To see more of Katie’s artwork please visit her blog.

Andrew Coats

This postage stamp inspired illustration titled Leon is by artist Andrew Coats. Born in Peru to a Colombian mother and a Scottish father, Andrew was raised all over the world.  He has lived in Portugal, Venezuela, London, and came to the United States at the age of 16.  Having a love for film and art since a young boy, but unsure of how he was going to apply that to a job, Andrew opted for a liberal arts education at New York University. Once there he very quickly learned about the animation department of Tisch Film and Television at NYU, where he could combine his love for both. Upon graduating, Andrew started out as a Designer, Modeler, Rigger and Animator on the Disney TV show Little Einsteins, followed by work at Blue Sky Studios as an animator on Horton Hears A Who!, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Currently at work on Blue Sky's next film Rio, Andrew is an Animation Character Lead on the main character Blu.

For more of Andrew's artwork please visit his blog.

Vivian Nguyen

This sweet comic strip is by illustrator Vivian Nguyen. Vivian was born and raised in Arizona and from an early age knew she wanted to pursue an artistic career. In 2002 she received a BFA in Illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Vivian has illustrated for Pasadena Weekly, US Air Force Art Program and TrinityCare Hospice, and posts an ongoing web comic titled Little Do They Know. Currently working for Spin Master Toys in Los Angeles, she handles design and project development. Vivian has applied the penpals theme to her comic strip, and is quite enthusiastic about participating in this project.

More of Vivian's art and comic strip can be viewed at her blog.

Nick Bruno

Displaying his love for bears and cute things, this illustration is by Senior Animator Nick Bruno. Inspired by Looney Tunes, the Muppets and Ren & Stimpey, Nick studied Illustration and Fine Arts at Umass Dartmouth, then continued on to receive his Masters at NYU in Computer Graphics and Animation. Starting his career in commercials, Nick soon landed a job with Blue Sky Studios animating on Ice Age: The Meltdown, the Oscar nominated short No Time for Nuts, Surviving Sid, Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and currently on Rio. As well as an Professor of Animation at NYU and a Mentor for Animation Mentor, Nick, along with three of his fellow animators and the occasional special guest, is a co-creator of TreehouseStudios, an episodic puppet adventure that makes light of all that goes into making an animated feature film.

To see more of Nick's creations please visit his blog.