Tony Maki

Inspired by the plight of rhinos that are hunted for their horns, artist Tony Maki contributes this beautiful diptych titled Dove’s Perch. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tony attended the Academy of Art University graduating with a BA in Illustration and Traditional Animation in 2001. Through college Tony supported himself as a UPS driver, after which he worked briefly as a designer/animator of hand held games. Then with the support of mentors he developed a few TV shows and worked on a variety of short films. Relocating to the East Coast, for the past six years Tony has been a Story Artist with Blue Sky Studios, where his film credits include Robots, Ice Age 2 and 3, Horton Hears a Who!, and where he is currently at work on the soon to be released Rio. A contributor to the Totoro Forest Project, Tony is also a freelance illustrator and animator who specializes in character based development and creation.

To see more of Tony's art please visit his blog.

Cory Godbey

This sweet and playful submission comes from South Carolina artist Cory Godbey. Cory has illustrated picture books and book covers for Oxford University Press, Random House, and Thomas Nelson to name a few, and has worked on several animated shorts and commercials with clients including Prudential Insurance, Microsoft Zune, and Xbox. He has contributed to the acclaimed Flight graphic novel anthologies with his first story Walters appearing in Flight 6, and in 2008, Cory was accepted in the Society of Illustrators 50th Annual of American Illustration.  In early 2009 Cory founded the popular Maurice Sendak tribute site Terrible Yellow Eyes where professional artists from all over the world contribute works inspired by Where the Wild Things Are.  Currently an illustrator, animator, and writer for Portland Studios, Cory seeks to tell stories with his work and likes drawing monsters.

To see more of Corey's art please visit his blog and to see more of his Marurice Sendak tribute please visit Terrible Yellow Eyes.

Sam Bradley

This sweet, hopeful painting is an offering by Canadian artist Sam Bradley. Though Sam was born in Brantford, Ontario and currently resides in Toronto, he says one day he "will live in New York and will eventually die at sea". A graduate of Sheridan College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Animation, Sam's work has included location design and background paintings for the music video Two Hours Traffic for Shark Teeth Films. Currently with Elliott Animation Sam is working as Supervising Location Designer on the Total Drama series which airs regularly on the Teletoon and Cartoon Network. With a talent for a wide range of art, from illustration to production design to fine art, and versatile in many mediums, Sam has recently exhibited his oil paintings and is a contributor to the soon to be released sequential art publication The Anthology Project. A big fan of anagrams, cityscapes, tootsiepops, and one peculiar mango, Sam spends his days making pictures and stories, and his nights dreaming of electric sheep.

Check out more from Sam at his website.

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.

Jason Sadler

These two bold, graphic paintings are by the very talented artist Jason Sadler, illustrator of characters humorous and expressive. Trained as an industrial designer and a student of animation at Sheridan College, Jason's professional career began as a designer and animator on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? for Broderbund Software. In 2000 he joined Mondo Media's animation team where he designed and directed the award winning Heavy Metal Guy series, the Happy Tree Friends special short Ski Patrol and animated many of the regular episodes. In 2005 Jason joined the visual development department at Blue Sky Studios to design characters and environments on Horton Hears a Who! and is currently working on the studio's next feature Rio. In addition to his many animation-related projects, Jason has designed educational toys for Leapfrog Enterprises, contributed artwork to the national trust Totoro Forest Foundation, and illustrated a story for Random House’s Out of Picture book series. Jason's art has also exhibited in both the Society of Illustrators' 2009 Sequential Art Exhibition in New York and the Galerie Arludik in Paris.

To see more of Jason's artwork please visit his website.

Trip Park

Enjoy this fun and lively submission by illustrator Trip Park who, being an avid Painter junkee, made his first foray into non-digital media in years! Before he began illustrating full-time Trip was drawn to advertising and worked as an Art Director with agencies Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi where, working with many of his favorite illustrators, he was inspired to break out on his own. Illustrator for several children's books, including the Rotten School series with author RL Stine, Trip most recently has been working on character designs for some Blue Sky Studios' projects in development.

To see more of Trip's art please visit his blog.