This was the first Visual Development painting that I did for ‘Pixie Hollow Games’ (line art by Ritsuko Notani; art direction by Fred Warter).

This is an early piece of “Rumble” concept art. Rumble is Glimmer‘s partner on the storm team and the antagonist of the story.  He’s not really a villain but it was fun to be able to play with some classic “Disney Villain” qualities while designing this character.

Our original vision for Rumble was sort of a Disney Fairies version of John Travolta’s “Danny Zuko” from Grease.  He evolved into a more athletic, David Beckham type by the final film, but I’m still a fan of this original version.

Read on for more insights and detail images…

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CTN-X 2011 is here!

Character Design Round Table:

I will be joining three incredible artists for a Character Design round table discussion on Saturday morning from 10am-12pm in Parlor 131.

Here’s the description from the CTN:

The top 5 portfolios have been pre-selected to be critiqued live by the best character design eyes in the business. In a round table format they will discuss what works, what can be done better and give personal tips that everyone needs to hear.

Sounds like fun, huh?! Wow. I have NO idea how I ended up on the same panel as Nate Wragg, Jose Lopez and Florian Satzinger. These guys are flippin’ geniuses! I am humbled and terrified. …and I can’t wait.

My Disney Booth Schedule:

I will also be reviewing portfolios at the Disney booth on Saturday from 4pm-6pm and on Sunday from 10am-12pm.  Stop by and say hi to me and my lovely colleagues.

Stop By My Booth For A Postcard:

The rest of the weekend, I will be hanging out at booth T-47 with my buddy Jason Pruett.  I’ll be handing out postcards that feature my comic characters (a rare opportunity to get a sneak peek at some brand new prehistoric freaks) as well as my Forest Demon painting.

I am so jazzed for this weekend! I hope to see you there!

In May of 2010, I was promoted to Character Visual Development Artist as I joined the crew of ‘Pixie Hollow Games.’

Suddenly, I went from designing props and tertiary background characters to designing brand new principal characters.  …a rare and precious opportunity.

My favorite of all the new characters we created for ‘Pixie Hollow Games’ is Glimmer (shown above) a lightning fairy and a member of the Storm Team (painting by Chris Oatley based on LineArt by Ritsuko Notani).

I’ve posted some detail images below, so click through for a closer look…

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