Podcast: Play in new window | Download

IN THIS EPISODE ::

I have a great interview with my Disney colleague Akiko Crawford and her husband Duncan Crawford.  Akiko is a VERY talented Matte Painter and Environment painter who works in Visual Development like I do.

And Duncan has worked as a sculptor on Super-8 and LOST (and he talks about that on the show), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Green Lantern, Thor, Iron Man 2, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Transformers and Spider-man 3 …just to name a few.

We talk a lot about their personal paths to success and they share some insight that might get you thinking differently or in a fresh way about how to get or keep your job in the entertainment industry.
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After a year-long hiatus, Kevin Cross and Josh Kemble have returned to podcasting with their inspiring, live-from-the-trenches take on freelance illustration: Big Illustration Party Time.

Kevin and Josh are some of my favorite illustrators and comics creators and BIPT is one of my favorite podcasts.

If you haven’t checked out their show about the ins and outs of freelance illustration, I highly recommend it. They cover almost every illustration topic imaginable and they provide an entertaining perspective on the material.

We have collaborated on past podcast episodes (links below) and currently, BIPT episode ## is the only place you can hear me really explain how I got my first job in the animation industry!

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Phewie. I can finally talk about this…

I’ve been working as a Character Visual Development Artist on Planes the new Cars spin-off franchise from Disney/ Pixar since November 2010.

Planes is a true Disney/ Pixar collaboration and of course, as with all Disney/ Pixar endeavors, story is king.  This movie definitely lives in the Cars World, but it’s a completely original story and has all kinds of awesome new characters.

We are all very excited. The energy in the studio is just so positive and inspiring… I wish you could be here to experience it.  To be a part of the Art Department on such a fun and energetic project, working alongside my remarkably talented peers and leaders at DisneyToon Studios is a career high-point.

I can’t wait ’til they start releasing images. Friends, it’s just so fun.

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Subscribe to the ChrisOatley.com Digital Painting Tips Newsletter and get access to LOTS of FREE PHOTOSHOP BRUSHES designed by Chris Oatley.

You can download the brushes by subscribing to my Digital Painting Tips Newsletter via the Green Box at the top of the right sidebar on this site.

These brushes are spontaneous and stylized and sure to help you generate new and unexpected visual ideas as you paint.

(This set was previously available exclusively to people who left voicemail on my ArtCast Listener Line.)

‘Hoodwinked Too: Hood Vs. Evil’ has been in legal purgatory for like, ever… …and now we finally have a release date.

Johann The Happy Yodeler was one of my favorite characters to work on. Mostly because all I had to start with was a VERY loose story sketch. Which is to say, I had a lot of influence in the design. I’ll post more of my character and prop paintings here in the coming weeks.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

IN THIS EPISODE ::

Lora Innes, creator of The Dreamer and I are starting a NEW PODCAST for visual storytellers called The Paper Wings Podcast! It will feature two shows per month, one focused on art and the other on story.

With passionate and efficient communication, a consistent, dependable release schedule, and a mission to advance the state of the art of visual storytelling, The Paper Wings Podcast, supported by The Paper Wings Talent Exchange Program (created to bring back the lost art of apprenticeship) is sure to fill our creative tanks (yours and mine) with high-octane inspiration.

AND:: Steve Umbleby’s career in character design takes another leap forward and the modern anthropology of a children’s story anthology reveals how any project can find it’s finish if it can find enough artists.

UPDATE: Lora has written about the new Podcast on her blog.

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