Arrived! June 19, 2010 05:04

So I'm all set up here at the Peninsula. And I have a smashing view of the Imperial Palace. More later - its only about twenty minutes before I meet everyone downstairs to go to dinner.

My room for the next, uh, twenty hours?

Japan bound June 18, 2010 13:28

So, HTTYD is opening soon in Japan, and Dean and I are cooling our heals in the AA lounge, topping off our power and having some coffee.

Because we're going there for a couple of weeks.  Which is cool because even though, according to her website, Hello Kitty lives in a suburb of London, I happen to know she shows up in Japan all the time.

It is required by the cosmos that either Dean and I must forget to pack our computer power cables, and we must buy new ones on the road. Dean has power cables from Austin and Washington DC. This time its my turn, and I'll be buying one in Tokyo.

So much happening so fast. March 19, 2010 18:45

January 5 at 6:58am
Getting ready to drive to Pacific Palisades to listen to the score for our movie. No doubt, this is the best part of the whole process.

January 9 at 8:31am
Spending the day at Skywalker Ranch with sound designers and foley girls.

January 11 at 7:00am
Swilling coffee and getting ready to go to the Warner Brothers lot for loop group. I need to look pretty this week as all the press stuff is starting. On Thursday I will opt for the shorts and sailors cap. And those shiny KISS boots I bought in London.

January 17 at 11:17am
Lounging at the lounge. Biding my time before I hit Burger King and board my flight with a hot fresh Whopper on my person.

January 17 at 3:14pm
Austn wheels down. I like Austin so far.

January 17 at 4:50pm
I just noticed this. Sitting in my room is a plate of chocolate. And in it is this teeny little chocolate version of our movie's poster. How cool is that? I shall eat it up before I check out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 18 at 3:48pm
By the way, when in Austin drop by the Alamo theater for food and drink while you watch.

 

January 18 at 6:02pm
Changing planes in Chicago. Then off to NY. Need Pizza badly.

January 19 at 5:29pm
My vista view from the Mandarin Oriental lounge. This bartender makes a mean Gimlet.

January 22 at 3:57am
On the stage in London. This studio is an old church. All drums today.

January 22 at 6:28am
I'm sitting up above the drummers in the choir loft at the church. Doing some drawings in my journal as they lay down the drum tracks.

January 23 at 2:15am

January 23 at 3:57am
When I'm in the balcony, this is my view. I sit and draw up here while everybody sings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 25 at 1:21pm
Turning in after a day at the recording studio. Amazing music today. Amazing. Thank you, John Powell.

January 30 at 1:27pm
Packing up to leave London tomorrow AM. Just when I got used to people driving on the other side of the street. Gave a visit to Big Ben today. Jack the Ripper tour last night. I haven't been that cold since I was in Mammoth.

March 5 at 7:07am
Okay, I have to get back to posting. So much happening so fast. Movie opens on the 26th. I'll be traveling cross country next week. I'll fly into Denver Sunday morning, and will leave again Monday night. Anyone free for dinner? I think I have Sunday evening and afternoon free.

March 5 at 8:53pm
I checked my itinerary, and I'm screening the film in Denver at about 1:00. Then I have some interviews and I'll be done around 4:00 Sunday.

March 7 at 6:57am
Hey, my airplane just arrived. Denver, here I come.

March 8 at 4:44am
Its almost seven in the morning in Denver. I start and end my day with a television broadcast - which means I'll be at the two lowest points on the energy curve on live TV - what could possibly go wrong?

March 9 at 5:25am
I'll be on Good Morning Texas this morning - all I need is coffe to prep for that.

March 9 at 12:29pm
Departing Dallas for DC. Such a fast day.

March 9 at 3:57pm
I'm wrapped in luxury at the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown. Heading out to the Exorcist steps.

March 10 at 7:22pm

March 12 at 5:33am
I'm looking out a window over a rainy Toronto. Actually quite beautiful. I'll be interviewing today and then heading back to LA early this afternoon. It will be good to get back home.

Today's the day... January 28, 2010 18:34

Okay, so I always said I'd get the word out if I sold any original art.  Today's the day.  I'm currently selling two of my favorite drawings.  Ones that I swore I'd never let go of.

But this is an exceptionally good reason to change that rule.

The first drawing is the first Kiskaloo thing I ever did.  I wanted to see if I could draw that cat and ink him successfully.   I tried for a couple of weeks.  Then I got it right.

This is actually a good size for hanging on your wall.  Or as a placemat.

The second drawing is a pencil sketch I did for my Sketchbook 2.  I liked the way this came out, and since I don't get that much time to draw, any art from me is relatively rare.  Again, this is pretty good-sized.  At least one person in America has this tattooed on their calf.  Their lower leg that is, not a young bovine friend.

And...(and this is the important part) you should know that if for some reason these aren't your thing, go to the links anyway, and click the 'see other items' button.  Because there are some once-in-a-lifetime drawings and paintings being offered for sale.  And if you aren't interested in any of them, you should know that someone out there is, and will thank you for spreading the word about this auction.

Links -

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tattoo-Girl-Original-Drawing-by-CHRIS-SANDERS_W0QQitemZ250569849839QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a57207bef

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-KISKALOO-Comic-Art-by-CHRIS-SANDERS_W0QQitemZ250569846648QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a57206f78

There's a Charles Schultz drawing offered, for goodness sake.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Peanuts-Charlie-Brown-Art-by-CHARLES-SCHULZ_W0QQitemZ250566071183QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a56e6d38f

Hula girl is on her way January 19, 2010 11:55

I've been so busy it seems like forever since I started this project.  Well, now its underway again, and I'm gunning to have it ready for the San Diego Comic Con this year.  If you check an older Blog post, you'll find pictures of a little sculpt that was intended to be a dashboard Hula girl - the sort that has a spring under her skirt that allows her to bobble back and forth.

The first big hold-up was the skirt.  The old nodders from the 50's had a cloth fringe that was probably used for drapes and chairs. The soft fringe was the perfect accompaniment to the soft features of the hula girls. But after several trips to the garment district, I could only come up with one fringe that was thick and full enough for a skirt, and it was unfortunately too short, as you can see by the picture. It wasn't just too short aesthetically, but the fringe is also there to hide the wide gap in the girl's legs that will be cut out for the spring. As you can see, this isn't going to work for that.  The other problem was cost - they were going to be expensive at the numbers I was intending to make, and thus the whole thing went on the back burner till I had more time to devote to the project.

But its back on now.  I am planning on a run of only 150 to 200.  They will be cast in resin, and thus will have more detail than the vinyl girl from two years ago.  The resin will also give them the weight they will need for the spring to work.  As for the fringe, I'll just move forward and hope something can be turned up.  The smaller run will compensate for the final cost.

But there is something else I've been wanting to do with this...

 This is the prototype for a huge version of the dashboard hula girl.  It will be an exact duplicate of the normal one, but at around three feet tall.  It will be fiberglass, and the four or five finished pieces will be hand painted by myself.  They will be scaled up versions of the smaller in all aspects, even down to the spring, which we'll have to do a little research on in order to get the action just right.  The base will need to be weighted with sand to accommodate the spring action.  Who would buy such a thing?  I'm frankly not sure.  I'm hoping a gallery or two in Hawaii might sell them for me.  Or even someone here in Los Angeles.

To answer a couple of questions up front, I'm not sure what the final price of one of these is going to be.  Just making the first one is likely to run to between six to eight thousand dollars.  I'm planning on making four or five, but the first one is likely to be sawed apart and used to engineer the balance weights and spring placement.  Even if I make five all total, I'll probably be charging around three thousand dollars for each.  The skirts will be custom made, and I'll start figuring out how to do all that in the next couple of weeks.  I'd like to have a traditional woven grass skirt, only using synthetic grasses so it retains it's texture.

Do I think these will sell?  Hell no.  I really don't expect to sell one, so I'll probably end up with an expensive set of giant wobbling garden hula gnomes.  At least it will be easy for people to find my house.