Ryan Wood

From artist Ryan Wood comes this beautifully rendered portrait. As a teenage skateboarder Ryan was more interested in the art on the decks and stickers than the sport, and was later thrilled to discover that people actually got paid to draw. A combination of Looney Toons and his dad, the art teacher, inspired Ryan's path as an artist. After graduating with a BFA in Illustration from Utah State University, Ryan found work as an artist with a videogame company. From there he learned animation, 3D modelling and texture painting, and his game credits include the Tak and the Power of Juju series (THQ/Nickelodeon), Chicken Little, and Meet the Robinsons (Disney). Currently working on a new project with Avalanche Software where Ryan splits his time between concept art, texture painting and creating imaginative caricatures.

For more of Ryan's art and illustrations please visit his blog.

Lizette Vega Biancalana

This lovely portrait is the work of artist Lizette Vega Biancalana. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Lizette graduated from San Jose State University's Illustration and Animation program with a BFA in Art. After graduating she worked for Electronic Arts and did a stint with Hallmark Cards designing christmas ornaments. Currently in New York working as a Designer and Visual Development Artist with Blue Sky Studios, her film credits include Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and the soon to be released Rio. Lizette's illustrated story Crawdaddy-O is part of collaborative sequential anthology Out Of Picture Volume 2, and her artwork has also been included in the Out of Picture exhibit in Paris and the Totoro Forest Project art auction. Besides being an avid sketcher, Lizette and her husband are working on writing and illustrating children’s picture books.

To see more of Lizette's art please visit her blog.

Dan Santat

This bold, mask inspired contribution comes from award winning children's book author and illustrator Dan Santat. Dan, who graduated with honors from the Art Center College of Design, is creator of the Disney animated series The Replacements. As a commercial illustrator his clients have included Macy's, Scholastic, Harpercollins, Wall Street Journal, and The Village Voice, among many others; and as a children's book writer and illustrator some of his book titles include The Guild of Geniuses, Chicken Dance, and the Otto Undercover series written by Rhea Perlman. Living in Southern California with his wife and two kids, Dan will soon be releasing his graphic novel, The Domesticated Four in spring of 2011.

To see more from Dan please visit his website.

Jacqueline Jones

The artistic Jacqueline Jones works in production management at Blue Sky Studios, but she shows off her artistic chops here with this graffiti inspired image of a boy reaching up to paint Africa. Jacqueline's choice of spray paint as a medium was inspired by the graffiti that both plagues and highlights Bed-Stuy. A born and raised New Yorker, Jacqueline originally set out to be a costume designer, earning a degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology before going on to receive a secondary degree in Art History and Costume Design from Purchase College State University of New York, otherwise know as SUNY. Prior to moving into animation, she worked in the wardrobe department on live action films such as The Night Listener and Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus. Though she continues to have a strong love for fashion, design and art, Jacqueline feels lucky to have the opportunity to pursue her passion for management in such a creative environment as Blue Sky Studios.

Shaun Cusick

Alien Pen Pals was inspired by the sci-fi movie posters Shaun Cusick watched growing up on Long Island, New York where, between sci-fi flicks, he found time for drawing, camping and playing the tuba. With a BFA in Illustration and Graphic Design from Pratt Institute Shaun started his career as a graphic designer but changed direction to freelance sculpting and model making for television and f/x film projects. He returned to Pratt to learn computer animation, and it paid off. Employed at Blue Sky Studios almost since the beginning as a maquette sculptor and Senior Modeler, Shaun has worked on Alien Resurrection, Bunny, the Ice Age movies, Robots, Horton Hears a Who!, Gone Nutty, No Time For Nuts and Surviving Sid, and most recently as Lead Character Modeler on Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and the studio's next picture, Rio. Somehow, he still finds time to draw, sculpt, model aliens, monsters and tikis while simultaneously renovating the 1920s American Craftsman home he lives in with his wife, children and cats.

More of Shaun's artwork can be seen on his blog.

Colin Fix

Colin Fix's illustration captures the boundless joy felt by the students when their letters finally finished the exhausting journey from Africa to America (and vice versa). After graduating from San Jose State University’s Illustration and Animation Program, Colin began his career as a traditional animator for The Learning Company and as an assistant concept artist for Industrial Light and Magic’s Art Department. Since then, his work has spanned videogames, film and even the card game Hecatomb with clients that include Wizards of the Coast, Electronic Arts, Planet Moon Studios, Shabba Games and Konami, to name a few. Colin's art has appeared in the fantasy art annuals Spectrum and Aphrodisia and, most recently, he's lent his talents to the smash hit 2K Games' Bioshock 2 and has worked on Beowolf and A Christmas Carol, legendary director Robert Zemeckis' most recent forays into animation.

For more of Colin's art and illustrations please visit his blog.

Moby Francke

This lovely gem displays artist Moby Francke's mastery of simple stylized forms and colors. Originally from the small Caribbean island of St. Thomas, Moby trained at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where he studied illustrative fine art. Upon graduating Moby worked at Lucas Arts as a conceptual designer, and taught figure painting at his alma mater. In 2002, Moby joined Valve Software, one of the leading video game studios, where he is currently an Art Director and Lead Visual Designer and was responsible for developing the unique art style of Team Fortress 2. The game proved highly influential in the industry and received critical acclaim for its art direction and visual design garnering a Visual Effects Society Award nomination in 2007 for Outstanding Visuals in a Video Game. Winner of several prestigious art awards, including two New York Society of Illustrators Competition Awards, Moby also contributed an artwork to the Totoro Forest Project in 2008. Presently Moby divides his time between Seattle and New York City, where he drew inspiration for this Brownstone to Red Dirt project as well as for his own personal work.

To see more of Moby's art please visit his website.

Oriol Hernandez Sanchez

Capturing a Brooklyn scene this painting comes from the brilliantly talented Barcelonean artist Oriol Hernandez. Graduate of Escola Joso in Spain, Oriol began his career in animation, working on Filmax Animacion's films Nocturna and the whimsical award winning Donkey Xote, a comic retelling of Miguel de Cervantes classic tale. He also added his touch to Hampa Studio's, Margarita which won the 2010 Goya Award for Best Animated Short Film. Oriol's published and soon to be published works include his contribution to Javier Aznarez's acclaimed comic collaboration Pigeon Verts, illustrations of the french comic SuperH (or in french, SuperG) with Albert Drandov, illustrating the children's picture book A Mi No Me Gustan Libros written by Joan Portell Rifà and La Enciclopedia de los Monstruos, a series of children's stories written by different illustrators of which Oriol contributed his story El Zombie Vicente both to be published by Bromera editions. Currently at work illustrating a project with french author Zidrou entitled La Piel del Oso, Oriol is also busy developing designs, illustrations and stories for his own personal projects.

Please check out so much more of Oriol's art at his blog.

Grace S. Lee

This charming painting was inspired by a letter illustrator Grace Lee had folded up on her desk ready to give to a friend. Born in Taiwan and raised in Los Angeles, Grace had an inclination to fold paper in front of her since she was a child when she would retreat from boring adult dinner conversation to fold chopstick wrappers into whatever she saw in her mind. By night's end, she'd have a belly full of food and a menagerie of chopstick-wrapper animals and flowers. A Graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Grace works as a production designer at Crest Animation Studios, freelances as a children's book illustrator and has contributed her art to the Totoro Forest Project. Currently finishing her own children's book, Grace says she likes meeting people in her travels, baking cookies and still enjoys origami.

Please visit Grace's blog to and website view more of her art.

George Fuentes

This simple sensitive image by Los Angeles artist George Fuentes reminds us that from the chaotic abstraction of the world, a simple gesture like saying hello can and does make a difference. In this case, children from opposite sides of the planet communicate through simple words and share ideas which mold new healthy minds for a great generation to come. George grew up fascinated with the activity of drawing and its ablility to communicate abstract thought. After receiving his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, he entered the commercial industry as a concept artist and quickly began to mold new ways of viewing our world through advertising. George's ideas have served  clients such as Toyota, Xbox, Audi, Coca Cola and many more and he has worked alongside such studios as Psyop, National Television, Elastic Studios and Hornet. Currently George continues to freelance throughout Los Angeles and New York. 

For more information on George's artwork please visit his website.

Ricardo Curtis

Ricardo Curtis may just be the busiest man in animation. In addition to being the founder and president of House of Cool, he has over ten animated feature films to his credit, such as Monsters Inc. and The Incredibles (Pixar Animation Studios), The Iron Giant (Warner Bros. Feature Animation) and Horton Hears a Who! (Blue Sky Studios) as animator, supervising animator, story artist and head of story. He has also taught Animation at Sheridan College and has served as guest speaker at numerous schools and venues.

Ricardo's postcard isn't his only contribution to BROWNSTONES TO RED DIRT. As president of House of Cool, Ricardo and business partner Wesley Lui were essential in the making of the film, offering both creative and financial support through every stage of the documentary.

To learn more of about Ricardo check out House Of Cool's website and blog.

Harold Hasselback

Enigmatic and surreal, this submission titled The Tooth Collector comes from artist and musician Harold Hasselback. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Harold attended Ringling School of Art and Design. He then went on to pursue music with his band Hankshaw, and from 1996-2004 the band recorded and released several records and toured the United States. An appreciative critic described a recent album as "... an upbeat amalgam of pop anthemics, electronic textures, Beatle-esque harmonies and warm liquid disco.” In 2005 Harold relocated to Atlanta, Georgia where he rediscovered his passion for art; and in 2007 has since returned home to Tampa where he is currently working on another release with Hankshaw and enjoying the process of drawing and painting.

To see more of Harold's art please check out his blog.

Bob Camp

This poignant moment from the talented Bob Camp captures Malik, a student in Brooklyn known for his self-proclaimed kookiness and love of art. Bob is a cartoonist/illustrator, comic book artist, writer, story artist, designer, director and producer who is revered in animation circles for being one of the creators of The Ren and Stimpy Show. He has worked on many TV series as well as feature films for such studios as Warner Brothers, Blue Sky Studios/Fox and Nickelodeon. Nominated for two Emmys, a Cable Ace award, and an Annie for his work on Ren and Stimpy, Bob has also been an illustrator at Marvel Comics on many comic titles including GI Joe, Crazy Magazine, Marvel Age, Bizarre Adventures, Savage Tales, The Shadow, Conan the Barbarian and The 'Nam, as well as covers, comics and editorial illustrations for Family Weekly magazine and The National Lampoon. Presently developing concepts for film, TV and the internet, Bob can also be found at Blue Sky Studios as a story artist for a feature film currently in development.

You can view more of Bob's artwork on his blog.

And please go to these pages to learn more about his impressive history and filmography.

Gwynne Simmons

This adorable piece is the work of artist Gwynne Simmons. Gwynne studied computer animation at Ringling School of Art and Design, then later discovered she was more interested in illustration and design. Currently Gwynne is an Animation Technical Assistant at Bluesky Studios where her film credits include Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and the upcoming animated feature film Rio. Gwynne draws and paints whenever she can, finding inspiration from the talented people who surround her as well artists from around the world.

You can see more of Gwynne's artwork on her blog.

Rafael Zentil

With this wonderfully vibrant painting titled Bed-Stuy Kickflip we are transported into the imagination of artist Rafael Zentil. A native of Southern California, Rafael was raised on a steady diet of skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding and playing guitar in punk rock bands. At the ripe age of eight, Rafael began taking oil painting classes, as a teen he made short films with super 8, video, and animation, and as a starving college student he worked as a portrait and caricature artist at Disneyland, making thousands of visitors from all over the world laugh and cry. He went on to receive a BFA from Cal State Fullerton University and started his first animation gig in 1999 as a character designer on the TV series Rugrats, where for fun, he used to "sneak in" his friends as background characters for many of the episodes. After transitioning into the story department, he storyboarded on an Emmy Award winning Rugrats episode for Outstanding Children's Animated Program. He also worked on Rocket Power, As Told By Ginger, and pilots for Klasky-Csupo. During this time, he also exhibited a series of paintings in Los Angeles art shows. In 2003, Rafael moved to New York to join Blue Sky Studios as a Story Artist. His contributions can be seen in Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Horton Hears A Who!, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and the upcoming 2011 release, Rio. In addition to the features at Blue Sky, Rafael is also co-directing a new short film within the studio.

For more of Rafael's art and sense of humor please visit his website.

Brittnie Bruner

The beautiful fluid movements of Augusta's dancing, as well as her love for patterning and monsters, inspired design and storyboard artist Brittnie Bruner to contribute two lively illustrations. Just this last year Brittnie graduated from San Jose State University with a concentration in Animation and Illustration. While attending school she received the great opportunity to go to Blue Sky Studios for a storyboard internship and completed an internship at PDI/DreamWorks as well. Currently back in California, Brittnie is working on various creative freelance projects and her own graphic novel while trying to break into the entertainment industry.

You can see more of Brittnie's artwork on her blog.

Stephen P. Neary

This sweet painting, by the very funny multi-award winning artist and filmmaker Stephen P. Neary, is based on a still from his short short titled Let's Make Out. A graduate of New York University, Stephen is a Hoosier-born, New York-based animator and story artist. His student short, Chicken Cowboy, won Best Undergraduate Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay at NYU's First Run Film Festival in 2009.  It later won The Grand Jury Prize for Best Animation at AFI Dallas Film Festival and was screened at the Director's Guild of America, on top of screening and winning additional awards in numerous film festivals nationwide.  Stephen has worked as a Story Artist at Blue Sky Studios since Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, where he is also developing his short film. Stephen spends his nights working on new shorts, doodling his thoughts, and feeding his turtle, Dr. Geranium.  

You can view more of Stephen's work at his blog.

Karen Disher

Capturing Malik's expressive energy, this spirited illustration is by artist Karen Disher.  As a child in Alabama, Karen, who studied traditional 2D animation at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, never would have imagined that her love of drawing gross and obscene cartoons would one day help her land her dream job as a layout artist on MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head.  While at MTV, Karen became part of the original development team for the series Daria, designing the main characters and creating the overall look of the show.   And, as Supervising Director for four seasons, she directed many episodes as well as both Daria movies.  A story artist at Blue Sky since 2002, Karen is currently Head of Story on the upcoming Blue Sky feature Rio, and is also developing an original short film with the studio.

Tom Wichitsripornkul

Inspired by Augusta's dancing from the Brownstones To Red Dirt documentary, this beautiful, expressive submission entitled Dance comes from artist Tom Wichitsripornkul.  Born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, Tom came to the United States in 1994 to study animation at William Patterson University in New Jersey.  He worked for R/GreenBerg Associates in New York, then moved to Blue Sky Studios where, as a Materials Technical Director, Tom's film credits include Ice Age I and II, Robots and Horton Hears a Who!  Meanwhile he studied painting at the National Academy School of Fine Arts in Manhattan.  Since then Tom has relocated to the west coast to join the Pixar team in northern California where he contributed to the multi-award winning animated film Up and is currently working on Brave as a Shading Technical Director.

Sho Murase

Titled Hope this lovely graphic piece is by Japanese-Korean artist Sho Murase.  Sho grew up in Spain, studied graphic design, fine art, cinematography and psychology, then received a 2D Animation Degree from the Vancouver Film School. Working in the animation and advertising industries in both Europe and the United States, Sho's clients include Nike, Virgin, Mattel and Evian, as well as Sony, Electronics Arts and Virgin; and her animation work has been nominated in animation film festivals such as Annecy, Zagreb, Mendrisio and Chicago International Animation Festival.  Sho's first color graphic novel SEI was published by Image Comics in 2003, since then she has created ME2 and illustrated over a dozen graphic novels including the adaptation series of Nancy Drew, currently in volume 20.  She has exhibited in galleries around the world, including the German Film Museum in Frankfurt and the Louisiana Modern Art Museum in Denmark, and will soon be exhibiting in a two person show at the Bluxome Street Gallery in San Francisco, California in April 2010.  Sho claims to be “the ultimate couch potato who sits around all day and night, takes long naps, watches reality TV, and does not work at all. Like NEVER.”

To see more of Sho's art please visit her website and blog.

Lee White

This endearing, wishful watercolor is by Portland based illustrator Lee White. After graduating with honors in 2003 from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Lee signed with noted artist agent Shannon Associates in New York and has been busy illustrating for a wide variety of clients ever since. Some of his clients include Simon and Schuster, Disney, Penguin Publishing, National Geographic, Apple Computer, Scholastic, among others. Lee also enjoys teaching and is currently an instructor of advanced illustration and concept design at the Art Institute of Portland. Currently working on his tenth children's book, Lee is also in the process of writing his own stories.

To see more of Lee's art please visit his website.

Melanie Martini

This whimsical piece by Melanie Martini captures the meaning of "long distance" pen pals. Melanie grew up drawing, and started as an illustration major at FIT before graduating with a BFA from the Art + Design school at SUNY Purchase College. She got her start in animation working as an inker and background painter on commercials and TV Funhouse at Tapehouse Toons. Melanie moved on to work on a pilot for Cartoon Network and credit designs for The Lizzie McGuire Movie before finding her current home at Blue Sky Studios, where she has been for the last seven years. Currently working as a set dresser, Melanie's film credits include Robots, Ice Age 2 and 3, Horton Hears a Who!, and the upcoming Rio.

To see more of Melanie's art visit her brand new blog.

Scott Gustfson

This luminous painting titled Dear Friend is by illustrator Scott Gustafson. Scott’s earliest artistic ambition was to become an animator, but by the time he entered high school he became acquainted with great illustrators like Wyeth, Rockwell, Parrish and Rackham who continue to inspire him today; however, lingering dreams of making animated films led Scott to major in animation at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.  As a freelance illustrator Scott’s client list over the span of 25 years has included Celestial Seasonings, Playboy Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, The Bradford Exchange, Dreamworks and The Greenwich Workshop. His illustrated books include The Night Before Christmas, Peter Pan, Nutcracker, as well as two original titles, Animal Orchestra and Alphabet Soup. Scott's book, Classic Fairy Tales was awarded a Chesley Award for Best Interior Book Illustrations from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists and his latest release, Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose, features over 45 color illustrations and won a Silver Medal for Best Children’s Picture Book by the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

Visit Scott’s website to see more of his artwork.

Lincoln Agnew

This inspired illustration is by artist Lincoln Agnew. Raised in a cozy Canadian home full of guinea pigs and ninja doodles, Lincoln decided to pursue a career in the arts after being awarded the 21 CRAYON SALUTE in Grade 3 for eating the most art supplies. Eventually Lincoln went on to earn degrees in both Illustration and Photography from the Alberta College of Art and Design. As a freelance designer, illustrator and photographer his work has been seen in various magazines, television shows and hundreds of stores worldwide.  Most recently Lincoln was honored in New York with The Founders Award by the Society of Illustrators for his artwork on his first picture book, Harry and Horsie. Currently Lincoln is working on his second children's book with Katie Van Camp and the talented team at Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins. 

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

Vadim Bazhanov

This amusing diptych titled Deer In Their Natural Form is by the talented Vadim Bazhanov. Born in Kiev, Ukrane, Vadim came to Canada at the age of eight years old. A graduate of Sheridan College's Animation Program Vadim's short film titled Fresh Eggs screened at the Ottawa Animation Festival, and the 2009 Sprockets Animation Festival in Toronto. Upon graduating Vadim worked as a designer at House of Cool in Toronto for a brief time before offered a job as story artist at Blue Sky Studios where he is currently storyboarding on the upcoming animated feature Rio.

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

Kevin Hawkes

This whimsical painting comes to us from award winning illustrator and author Kevin Hawkes. Born in Texas, raised in an old house in the middle of the French countryside and many libraries around the globe, educated at Utah State University, Kevin is the illustrator of over 45 acclaimed picture books for children and young adults including multi-award winning and NY Times Bestsellers, Library Lion, Chicken Cheeks, and The Wicked Big Toddlah. Most recently in New York, Kevin was awarded The Silver Medal in the Society of Illustrators 2009 Juried Art Show for his artwork from Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black. Kevin's vibrant colors, unusual perspectives, and dry sense of humor are all hallmarks of his illustrations and paintings. A frequent presenter at schools and conferences, he enjoys sharing his work with adults and children. Kevin now lives in Maine where he enjoys writing and illustrating picture books as well as gardening, hiking and exploring the coast.

To see more of Kevin's art and illustrations please visit his website.

Marceline Tanguay

This humorous painting is by artist Marceline Tanguay. Growing up on the French island of Montreal, Marceline studied violin and ballet for many years before finding her passion in the visual arts. At Sheridan College she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Animation and made the short film Taste of Glory, which was screened at the Ottawa Animation Festival in 2007. Beginning her professional career Marceline worked as a character design intern on the soon to be released Toy Story 3 at Pixar Animation Studios, before she later moved to New York City to join the art department at Blue Sky Studios on their upcoming film, Rio. Still at Blue Sky, Marceline is currently designing for their next feature films and shorts.

To see more of Marceline's illustrations and paintings please visit her blog.

Dave Strick

Titled Wonder, this pensive painting is the contribution of Dave Strick. Raised in Brookline, Massachusets, Dave graduated from Connecticut College with a BFA in Painting and won Best Student Animation at the Zoom In Awards, for his college thesis. After college he spent time at Croog Studios as an intern, then at the Architectural Body Research Foundation in New York as a Visualization Artist before landing at Blue Sky Studios where he is today. As a Modeler Dave's film credits include Ice Age 2 and 3, Horton Hears a Who! and Rio, and he is presently on a project currently in development. Outside of work he enjoys travel, painting, digital sculpting and creating animated shorts.

Check out more of Dave work at his blog.

Sylvain Marc

This delightful, comic inspired illustration is by French artist Sylvain Marc. Born in 1982 near Paris, Sylvain received an illustration diploma at L'École Supérieure Estienne in Paris and studied animation at École des Gobelins. During his course, Sylvain co-directed Cocotte Minute, one of the opening short films of Annecy 2006 and Fertilizer Soup, a limited animation short commissioned by French television channel, Canal J. Both films were selected and awarded in festivals around the world, including Annecy, Ottawa and Siggraph. After getting his diploma, Sylvain was recruited by Framestore CFC in London to work as 3D character animator on commercials, music videos and the feature film The Tale of Despereaux. Sylvain then joined London based Cartoon Network Europe's development studio where he has worked on the development of several new TV shows concepts, from story to design and animation, and is is currently developing his own project for the channel. On the side, Sylvain works as a free lance illustrator and comic artist in the United Kingdom and France.

To see more of Sylvain's artwork please visit his blog.

Tommy Duy Nguyen

This amusing painting is from artist Tommy Duy Nguyen. Raised mostly in Houston, as a child Tommy saturated his brain with cartoons and comics, watching old Tom and Jerry, Droopy, and Warner Bros. cartoons and reading comic books galore, as well as tons of books on animals where he developed a particular love for turtles. Though he is a freelance illustrator for local artists and writers, Tommy mostly spends time on his art for himself, drinking lots of coffee, drawing in his sketchbook, designing characters and plots for the children's stories he has in mind and hopes to one day publish. As well, Tommy has the hope to someday work or collaborate with the dynamic duo, artists Vince and Peter Nguyen!

To see more of Tommy's art please visit his http://shoot-dang.blogspot.com/.

Marco Bucci

This nature inspired painting is by Canadian artist Marco Bucci. Marco received a BFA in Film Studies from Ryerson University. After a stint as a Color Key Artist for CORE Digital Pictures and freelancing as a matte painter and concept artist at various other animation studios in Toronto, such as Digital Pictures and Nelvana Ltd., Marco landed at Pipeline Studios where he currently is an Art Director and Lead Matte Painter. Outside of his day job Marco is a dedicated fine artist. He is a commissioned portrait artist and is close to publishing a book consisting of a collection of his personal illustrations. Marco considers himself a lifetime student of painting, and when he’s not at work he can usually be found outdoors doing nature studies, or in the studio painting from a live model.

For more of Marco's art please go to his website.

Limbert Fabian

This submission entitled Shine comes from illustrator/designer and motion director Limber Fabian. Born and raised in New York City, Limbert studied at Ringling School of Art and Design with the intention of becoming an animator, though found illustration and the ability to utilize different mediums seemed to offer him the best opportunity to find a voice. After an exciting career start as a freelance illustrater for the likes of Playboy, The Village Voice and Scholastic Books, Limbert continued to dabble with the moving picture and eventually found a home at Reel FX Creative Studios where he was able to blossom as a director and is currently Creative Director and as well Head of Design at their satellite studio, Radium. Limbert's work has been published in American Illustration, Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts, has had three one-man shows, and his commercials have aired on TV. Having pondered the core idea of this project, Limbert concluded that these young kids are all bright young minds sometimes buried under adversity -- truly diamonds in the rough, and all they need is for someone to let them shine.

To see more of Limbert’s work please go to his website.

Annie Fix

This joyful mixed media piece by illustrator Annie Fix incorporates her passion for sewing and design. With a life-long calling to be an artist, Annie started very young finding drawings her older sister, Lorraine Rocha, had done and tried to learn by copying them. Though discouraged to pursue art by her parents, Annie eventually graduated from San Jose State University with a BFA in Illustration and Animation; whereupon she interned at Slave Labor Graphics, was an Art Assistant in Industrial Light and Magic's art department, and then moved on to freelance as a Concept Artist for the likes of Ubisoft, Stormfront Studios, and presently for 2K Games. Having just recently finished working on characters for Bioshock 2 and Annie is now onto the next 2K project. A very full-time mother to a busy 3-year-old boy, 8-month-old girl, and 8-year-old stepson, Annie also somehow finds time to develop her own art AND contribute to benefits and art auctions such as ours!

To see more of Annie's art and related projects please visit her blog.

Michael Knapp

From Michael Knapp comes a delightful tryptich titled Trans-Dimensional Kleenex Communicators. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design, Michael’s career path as an artist has been a windy one with experience ranging from mural painting to designing for newspapers, from after-effects animations for the History Channel to commericial storyboarding. Though initially Michael's focus was on illustration, he eventually took on some concept design assignments and discovered that creating artwork for animated films is his true love. Michael started as a designer with Blue Sky Studios in 2000, with movie credits including Robots, Ice Age 2, and Horton Hears a Who!. His first credit as art director was for the Academy Award nominated short No Time For Nuts and he then went on to art direct Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and is currently doing visual development on one of Blue Sky's upcoming feature films. Michael's artwork can be found in The Art of Robots, Spectrum 12 and 13, the Totoro Forest Project, as well as the Society of Illustrators Annuals 48 and 49. His illustrated stories Newsbreak and Under Pressure: A Breakerboy Chronicle are featured in the comic anthologies Out of Picture Volumes 1 and 2. Michael has contributed his art to both Sketchtravel and the Picture Book Project, and has also exhibited in New York and Paris.

For more of Michael Knapp's art please visit his website.

Steve Martino

This beautifully expressive illustration by artist and feature film director Steve Martino, captures the simple joy felt by the children in Sierra Leone when receiving a letter from their pen pals. Steve got his start in animation completing his Masters degree at Ohio State’s Computer Graphics Research Group and honing his skills as a designer and animator at Cranston/Csuri Productions. His work at this time included some of the earliest computer animation seen around the world, for events like CBS' Super Bowl. As founding partner of Click 3X-LA and Creative Director at both 7th Level Inc. and MetroLight Studios, Steve then went on to design and direct animation and visual effects for television, interactive media and features. Highlights of this period, prior to his work in animated feature films, include a Prime Time Emmy Award for his direction of ABC’s World of Discovery main title and his collaboration with Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle on a series of Monty Python interactive projects. In 2002 Steve came to Blue Sky Studios as Art Director on Robots and has contributed his design support to Ice Age: The Meltdown and the animated short Gone Nutty. More recently Steve partnered with Jimmy Hayward to direct Horton Hears a Who! and is currently co-directing one of Blue Sky's upcoming feature films.

Thomas Leavitt

This serene illustration is by artist Thomas Leavitt. Raised in the heat of the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona and vowing to never take another art class after his first high school experience, Thomas spent his school time devoted to choir, drama, and band. He continued drawing and computer art on his own and with help from his choir teacher, was the first recipient of the Imation Computer Arts Scholarship in 1998. Thomas went on to study animation at Brigham Young University in 2003 where in his junior and senior year he directed two student films; Turtles, which went on to win a Student Academy Award and a Student Emmy in 2006, and then the short film Las Pinatas, which won a Student Emmy and played in the Annecy Film Festival in 2007. Upon graduating, Thomas was hired as a Design and Pre-visualization Artist at Blue Sky Studios where has worked on Horton Hears a Who! and Ice Age 3 and is currently designing for Rio.

To see more of Thomas' art and the digital image he created from which his illustration was based please visit his blog.

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.

Jeff Biancalana

This exuberant illustration is by Bay Area artist Jeff Biancalana. After studying illustration and animation at San Jose State University, Jeff worked as an assistant animator at Curious Pictures and Wild Brain in San Francisco. Moving on to Mondo Media, he worked as an animator, story artist, director and voice actor for internet shows like The God and Devil Show and Happy Tree Friends. After several years, Jeff returned to SJSU where he had the opportunity to teach and obtain his Masters degree in Art. In 2005, Jeff joined Blue Sky Studios as a story artist on the animated films Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Rio. Moving back to the west coast, he took a short break from animation and lent his skills as a story artist to the live action film, Jonah Hex, which is based on the DC comic of the same name. Jeff has since returned to the world of animation and now works for PDI/DreamWorks in Redwood City, California as a story artist where he has worked on Mega Mind and Madagascar 3. In his spare time, Jeff illustrates stories with his wife and studies Chinese martial arts.

To see more of Jeff's art please visit his website.

Veronique Joffre

This lovely, heartfelt vignette is the contribution of young french artist Veronique Joffre. Veronique graduated from Ecole Estienne in Paris and Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg, and started her career as an illustrator just three years ago. Currently working on commisioned illustrations for french children’s book publishers, some of her published works include La chèvre de monsieur Seguin (Lito), Comptines et berceuses (collectif, Milan) and et Contes du Monde (collectif, Amaterra). But Veronique's true dream is to write her own stories to accompany her pictures. Besides a recent commission from the Puppet Museum of Lyon, Veronique’s artwork has been included in the Totoro Forest Project, Gallery Nucleus, and L’affiche Moderne as well as the highly regarded Sketchtravel project. With her collages Veronique doesn’t like to know where she’s going at first, prefering to be surprised by chance, letting shapes and colors create her stories almost on their own.

For more of her thoughts and images please visit Veronique's blog.

Tim Bowers

This charming painting is a portal into the world of award winning children’s book illustrator Tim Bowers. From his childhood interest in art, an active imagination and an interest in storytelling Tim's career in illustration was born. Graduating with a BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, Tim began his career in advertising and editorial illustration, spending five years working in various humor groups, and as a core member of Shoebox Greetings at Hallmark.  For the past 25 years, Tim has been creating artwork primarily for the children's book market and the social expression industry, with his characters appearing on hundreds of greeting cards and illustrations in numerous picture books. Tim and his family live in Granville, Ohio where he continues to illustrate children’s books, and each year he travels to schools and libraries to share his artwork with students.

To see more of Tim's art and children's book titles please visit his website.

J. Courtney Granner

This very endearing illustration is the work of skilled illustrator J. Courtney Granner, admired Professor of Animation and Illustration at San Jose State University. After receiving his BFA from Western Kentucky University, Courtney studied two years at The Art Institute of Boston and received his MFA from Syracuse University in New York. As an award winning illustrator his long list of clients includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, and The New Yorker, to name only a few. His illustrations have garnered recognition from the Communications Arts Illustration Annual, the Print Regional Design Annual, the New York Society of Illustrators, the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators, and the San Francisco Society of Illustrators. Represented in shows around the country, Courtney's art has been included in exhibitions at the Museum of American Illustration in New York, The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Massachusetts, and the Delaware Museum of Art.

To see more of Professor Granner's art please go to his webpage.

Kristin Labriola

This sweet, winsome painting is by artist Kristin Labriola. Kristin received her BFA in Fine Art and English Literature at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. With hopes of a career in movie making, Kristin went off to work as a set decorator and scenic artist on independent films in New York City. Her love of animated films took over in 2007 when she began working as a production assistant in development at Blue Sky Studios where she quickly realized her true passion lives in the world of story telling. Kristin currently works as a director’s assistant as well as assistant to the head of development in an effort to carve out her own career path in feature film development. Kristin’s other goals include creating her own stationary line and writing and illustrating her own children’s books.

Peter Gibbons

Stepping out of his 3-dimensional comfort zone, artist Peter Gibbons brings a graphic contribution, evoking the potential simiplicity of communication through the written word. Raised on the the island of Oahu, Peter received his BFA from University of California Santa Cruz which included a semester abroad in Europe. After spending some years as an organic farmer, Peter began a career in the museum industry where he remains a core member of a team of fabricators at Academy Studios in Northern California. As team leader of both international and domestic projects, Peter handles everything from scale models and armature construction to sculpting and finish work. His credits include whales, mammoths and dinosaurs in the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, International Wetlands Park in Hong Kong and Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, among many, many others.

Scott J Wakefield

This lively narrative painting is by artist Scott J. Wakefield. Since graduating from Art Center College of Design in 2003, Scott has worked as a freelance illustrator serving national children’s magazines and major publishers such as Spider Magazine, Highlights, Scholastic, and McGraw Hill. Versatile with nearly any medium, Scott’s body of work includes images done in both traditional and digital media. Having recently completed his MFA in Illustration from Utah State University, Scott is also an instructor of illustration at the Art Institute of Salt Lake City in Utah. Enjoying the creative process of picture book illustration and with it the ability to engage and inspire his viewers, Scott illustrated and recently self-published his first children's picture book titled Woodchuck Chuck, a story about what little woodchucks do when they can't chuck wood.

To see more of Scott's art and illustrations please visit his website.

Margaret Meyer

With this charming painting titled The Letter, we enter artist Margaret Meyer's engaging world. The roaming, carnival-like nature of stop-motion has served Margaret well. A chance meeting with Art Clokey, enabled by her animator sister, led Margaret to her first job making puppets for the famed Gumby creator on a Davy and Goliath special at his studio in Morro Bay, California. Later she traveled south to Los Angeles to build and design characters for the breakout and award winning Cartoon Network shows Robot Chicken and Moral Orel. New opportunities then presented themselves in Portland, Oregon, where Margaret moved to spend several years building and designing costumes for Henry Selick's critically and commercially acclaimed Coraline. Currently making Portland her home, Margaret exhibits and sells her paintings and sculptures, until the next circus tent of animation is lofted.

To see more of Margaret's art please visit her blog.

Alice Carter

This vibrant painting is a lovely contribution by multi-award winning artist Alice Carter. A professor in the School of Art and Design at San Jose State University in California, Alice, also affectionately known as 'Bunny', is also an accomplished and admired illustrator and published author. As an illustrator Alice has exhibited in the New York Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts Art Annual, Print Regional Design Annual and The Japan Creators Annual, her clients have included LucasFilm Ltd., Rolling Stone magazine, and The New York Times and she has won Best of Show Honors from the AR Show USA: 100 Best Annual Reports, the Hatch Awards of the Boston Ad Club, Simpson Printed Paper, and the Western Art Directors West Coast Show. As a fine artist Alice has exhibited at numerous galleries and museums including the New York Society of Illustrators, the Museum of American Illustration, and The Norman Rockwell Museum, to name just a few. As an educator Professor Carter was selected in 1997 as Outstanding Professor at San Jose State University, and in 2000 was awarded a Fulbright fellowship which took her to Cairo as lecturer at Helwan University. Her recent publications include, The Art of National Geographic: One Hundred Years of Illustration, The Red Rose Girls: An Uncommon Story of Art and Love, The Essential Thomas Eakins, and Cecilia Beaux: A Modern Painter in The Gilded Age. In conjunction with her publications, Professor Carter has curated exhibitions at the Woodmere Art Museum, The Norman Rockwell Museum (where she was elected a trustee in 2004) and The Society of Illustrators’ Museum of American Illustration.

To see more of Alice's artwork including publications please visit her website.

Robert MacKenzie

Medium: Acrylic

This captivating painting is by artist Robert MacKenzie. Robert grew up in San Mateo, California and graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Illustration and Animation where he was also on the faculty at the School of Art and Design. As a Concept, Visual Development and Color Key Artist Robert has worked at such film studios as Lucasfilm, PDI/Dreamworks and, for many years now, Blue Sky Studios contributing his visual ideas and color sense to many a feature film, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to Horton Hear's a Who!, to name only a few. Outside of working on films, Robert is a children's book illustrator, Jack and the Beanstalk and Fly, Cher Ami, Fly, and gallery artist showing his artwork nationwide as well as abroad. Robert's artwork has appeared in Communication Arts, Spectrum, the Society of Illustrator Annuals, and as well as contributed to many other group projects such as the Totoro Forest Project, the Out of Picture anthologies and Sketchtravel.

To see more of Robert's monster series visit his blog where you can also peak into his inspiring sketchbook.

Wendy Park

This mysterious and subtle piece is by artist Wendy Park. Concept artist and matte painter, Wendy is a recent graduate of Otis College of Art and Design where she earned a BFA in Digital Media, during which she was a design intern at Blue Sky Studios. Since graduating Wendy has been a Background Artist for Three Legged Legs and a Visual Development Artist for both King and Country and Walt Disney Animation Studios. More recently Wendy has been found working in visual development for The Cartoon Network on an upcoming movie.

To see more of Wendy’s art please go to her website.

Brian Menz

This is humorous illustration is by character animator Brian Menz. As a boy, Brian spent much of his childhood dreaming of a career in 2D animation, making flip books and collaborating with his twin brother using his parent's video camera and drawings of stick figures to create short animated films. Graduating from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Applied Media Arts, Brian interned at Animatus Studios and focused on traditional hand drawn animation before breaking into the world of 3D animation through the television series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron. From there Brian delved into stop motion on the production of Coraline at Liaka but has since migrated back to 3D animation working for Disney on Bolt, and Blue Sky Studios on Ice Age 3 where he is currently at work on the upcoming film Rio. One day Brian hopes to write and direct his own animated film.