Doodlevision

Power Outage

2007-10-05T09:00:00.001-07:00

Last night I sat down prepared to work late into the night (as I usually do) and then POP! The power went out.
This happens from time to time and I figured the power would come back up in a few minutes.

Nothing.

Then I realized, "Oh yeah, our local electric company was going to update the power grid"

I looked outside the window and saw some houses well lit a few blocks from ours. FANTASTIC.

An hour later I was stealing someone's WiFi signal on my laptop planning my trip to New York.
About an hour and a half later my laptop battery was wearing down and I realized...I'm not gonna get a chance to work tonight. So I went to bed.

Next morning the power is still out! Almost 7 hours later we still had no electricity!

Will this be on the national news?! Will people wonder if we're OK?! Should we notify loved ones?!?
My son wakes up. "ELMO! MILK!" he demands... That's his code for a nice bottle of milk and watch an episde of Sesame Street.

Uh..."No Elmo and hopefully milk is still drinkable." I say as Leah and I are holding a flashlight.

"WAAAAA!!!!" the boy screams in disapproval translating to, "Well you better get this situation straightened out OLD MAN!"

Panic begins to set in. "SOMEONE GET THIS BOY A FRICKIN' COLD BOTTLE OF MILK!!!!"

Leah breaks out a slightly cooled milk bottle.

Crisis averted.

"ELMO!" the boy demands!

I break out the laser pointer and drive the kitten nuts running around the house. This pleases the boy who seems unaffected by the power outage. A bowl of Cheerios and a diaper change later it's time to take the boy to daycare.

Crisis averted.

I can't even remember the last time I was in a power outage for that long. It makes one realize their dependence on their electronic devices when they're sitting in the dark.

Well, time to catch up on a nights work lost. Have a great day everyone.

After Birthday Glow

2007-10-03T10:10:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all for the sweet birthday messages in my email, answering machine, text mesages, IM's and so forth. As a person who spends ALL DAY in the house with only a cat, bird, and rabbit to talk to it sure makes a person feel loved.

In other news, I just purchased "The Incredible Book Eating Boy" as a birthday present to myself and it's a BEAUTIFUL book which was referred to me by the many folks in the blogosphere.

It's the kind of book you wish you could design if you had a level of design sophistication such as Oliver Jeffers. It's full of old paper collages combined with painting that make for real pleasing designs. It's not typically the style you would find in an american picture book illustrator and I think it's because we here in the states adhere to a particular aesthetic. It's something I tried in my early work but was often told by art directors that it was a little too complex and not too kid friendly and so, for fear of never working in the business I adapted my style. Then again, imagine how laborious it must be to go shucking about swap meets and trying to find such interesting paper? Call me lazy but I think I'm just gonna paint stuff.

I was gonna go to the bike store to see about purchasing a bike for myself so I can be a little more "GREEN" to the environment and hustle around town without having to deal with so much traffic but the local bike store had moved to another part of town and I was left emty handed. I thought it would've been cool to tell you all that I got a shiny new bike for my birthday after yesterdays rant about missing my youth but alas.... Maybe tomorrow I'll have something to share? :)

Lastly, when Disney Channel manages to break out of their 12 hour blocks of "Hannah Montana" and "Suite Life of Zack and Cody" they'll show a new episode of The Replacements and there will be a new one this Saturday at 9PM. I also changed my profile icon to something more suitable for my accomplishments. I mean, heck, why not wear my accomplishments with some pride right?

32

2007-10-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

This blog is for all the kids who are still in school right now and for the adults who remember better days

So here it is, my annual birthday rant. October 2nd. The birthday of Ghandi, Charlie Chaplin, Sting..... and myself.

I think birthdays stopped being fun and exciting when I reached 26. There's something about getting over the "quarter of a century" mark that really stings. Now here I am. 32. Life is on cruise control and I'm just going through the motions of life. Paying bills, going to work, running errands, etc. I feel like adulthood is just one big repetitious loop.

There's really not much play time anymore. The extent of playtime is sitting down on the couch and playing Halo 3 for a couple of hours or maybe catching LOST on Tivo but that's a rare thing for me. The rest of it is "I gotta do this. I gotta do that."

No one told me that being an adult was gonna be this lame. If I had known that I probably would've been more adventurous in my childhood years. When I reflect on things I really value my time now. My wife only gets 2 weeks vacation a year and we normally save it for holidays, which, when you really think about it isn't a whole lot of time considering the hours of work we all put in every week. A friend from England said they get a month vacation time. That's more like it. I don't recall the exact countries but I know that some of them get up to two or three months! My point is....

ENJOY YOUR YOUTH.

Enjoy it not because you're gonna get old and die someday but because it's the time when you can really experiment and do all the stuff in life you want to do without having to adhere to a schedule or some lame ass boss. BE SPONTANEOUS! Get out of the house! Get in some (not too illegal) trouble. Try new things because I guarantee you, when you hit the working world you're gonna wonder to yourself "What happened?! I have all this money and I can't spend it on anything because I have no TIME.

With that said I have some news to report on the Dantat front.

The picture above is the latest painting I completed for "Ghosts of Luckless Gulch" I'm tellin' you folks, I feel like this is the best work I've done in a long long time.

I don't know why this slipped my mind but if you're an SCBWI member I have an article in this quarters newsletter about being a unique artist. I'll post the actual article up on my site later.

I'd like to announce that I just agreed to illustrate some books....

First off is Lisa Yee's upcoming Chapter Book series "Just Bobby" for Arthur Levine Books. Lisa, as you know, is the talented YA novelist and kinda-sorta neighbor of mine

Second is Tammi Sauer's picture book "Chicken Dance" by Sterling Publishing. I'm not only excited about this book becaue it has a character named Elvis Poultry but becaue this is only the second time I get to actually design the entire book on my own (First time being the Guild of Geniuses)

Lastly, Hyperion Books has asked me to illustrate "Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo" by Ayun Halliday. Hey, the butts of various animals are always funny and a child pleaser and it will give me a great excuse to go to the LA Zoo for research.

OK, that's it. Go out! Be spontaneous!

The Domesticated Four

2007-09-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

There have been a lot of folks who have been asking me what my follow up to "The Guild of Geniuses" would be and now that I've got the ball rolling to a certain degree I thought I'd share with you a graphic novel I'm doing with Arthur A. Levine Books called "The Domesticated Four" (Originally titled 'The Domesticated Six"). This monster project was THE MAIN REASON why I left the game industry. It had been signed on back in 2004 but many factors put this book on hold.

1) My editor was busy putting out two Harry Potter Books.
2) My show, "The Replacements" was being pitched and eventually picked up by Disney Channel
3) I was still working full time at a video game company
4) The birth of my son and the first year of sleepless nights
5) My long comittment to Otto Undercover and Walter Kitty
6) Various freelance projects

I originally had a draft done back in late 2006 that took ONE FULL YEAR for me to thumbnail out and it ended up becoming 500 pages long. Well, that was too long of a story and they wanted it cut down to 200 pages because of cost and readability. I HAD TO CUT 300 PAGES?!?!? My editor and I have never really done a graphic novel before and so it's been a real learning experience for me. I've been reading up on all sorts of books on how to do comics and after reworking the manuscript I think I've got it working. Well, Harry is over now, and it's full speed ahead for me. Now, it's just a matter of me getting things down on paper and making this thing happen coupled with the huge workload I have working on other projects.

I'll be putting up a production blog in a few days connecting to my site and you can check up on the progress on a regular basis. It'll have all sorts of funny little tidbits about animals and superheroes and so forth and I figure that will also be a motivation for me to get things going.

What's the plot you ask?

All I can tell you is that it's about superhero housepets and sibling rivalry.

Me as a Simpsons Character

2007-09-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another Simpsons character thrown into the blogosphere. I made this character version of myself from the movie website about 2 or 3 months ago and never posted it. Well, no point in letting my hard work go to waste unseen!

Rollin'

2007-09-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

It's been radio silence here since I've been swimming in a mountain of work. I just recently took on a new education book project to illustrate. I know I should be working on my graphic novel or pitching more shows but, somehow, after leaving the video game company I find myself with even less time to work on my own stuff. Anyway, the above pic is an interior piece for the "Calendar Club" series from Scholastic. I used to never be able to put this kind of quality into my work so I guess now all that free time I have not having a video game job are paying off. In other news, I'm actualy going to be doing some travelling! Some of you know, I'll be going to New York for the Original Art show in New York in October, but recently, I was asked to speak at a school in Virgina Beach, VA for a whole week in November. Hey, it's good for the business. Now if I can just get the time to work on my graphic novel.....

A New Family Member

2007-09-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

My wife and I, mostly my wife, are animal lovers. We have a bird, a rabbit, and now welcome the newest member of our family. A cat which we've named "Gesso". For all you non artist types gesso is a paint primer that you use on a surface to give it a bit of a grittiness to hold the paint. We adopted him from the Pasadena Humane Society on Saturday and we feel good about saving an animal from the rough streets of LA

Illustration Friday - Alphabet

2007-08-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

"the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the aphabet.

Illustration Friday - Visitor

2007-08-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm experimenting bit with a modern color palette with a more vintage pic and a more naive style. Very loose, very simple, very fun.

Illustration Friday - Captain

2007-08-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

Captain Zapagan says Arrrr!

Jinx

2007-08-16T07:52:00.001-07:00

just a quickie for the morning

Character Designs

2007-08-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

I've been super busy lately but I just thought I'd post up some simple pics

Cowboy

2007-08-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Here's the cowboy on just plain white. Hmmmm, I actually prefer him this way. What does that say about my graphic design abilities?

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

2007-08-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

I just started with a random character design of a cowboy and ended up making a movie poster for an old John Wayne movie. Great performance by Stewart, not one of Waynes better ones in my opinion

Illustration Friday : Emergency

2007-08-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here comes the boy wonder to save the day during an emergency.

I was just itching to draw a superhero for the longest time and I figured I'd incorporate a kid of some kind since I do children's books and all.

Disney orders 13 more episodes of "The Replacements"

2007-08-07T10:29:00.001-07:00

I've been away from the show for quite a while with all the children's book work on my plate but it's always nice to be back to stop by and say HI.

I was suprised to discover that our show was picked up for an extra 13 episodes on top of the other 18 which brings us up to a total of 58 episodes! Woo Hoo!
We're switching up the show a bit and we 'guarantee' it's going to be even better than the first season. We have a slightly larger budget, with a larger staff (first season was seriously understaffed and fell behind schedule) The look has been tweaked slightly and each episode is now one whole 22 min episode instead of two 11s. Everyone is packing up to move to the third floor because Touchstone Pictures is kicking us out to occupy the second and fourth floors.
Afterwards I was walking past the Disney Archives and I saw these!

When you're a kid growing up I'm sure most of you can recall that you had a favortie book or VHS movie that you watched to DEATH and never got bored of. For me, Disney's THE BLACK HOLE was it. Here's a trailer....

Sadly, I still know a lot of the dialogue by heart.... Don't judge me.
In retrospect it's kind of an odd movie to consider as a favorite as a child. It did poorly in the theaters, and you would probably consider something like 'Sleeping Beauty' or 'Shrek' to be a kid's favorite movie. Nope, little Dan Santat liked the psychotropic sci fi flick with Ernest Borgnine and a scary scene depicting hell. Wait...We're talking about a DISNEY MOVIE here!?!?!? Needless to say I was so obsessed with V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and I probably drew him a thousand times, so to see the actual movie props really brought back memories and is probably the reason why I'm so obsessed with robots.
Ugh...Did you watch the trailer? In retrospect, this is really awful....
I also saw the ROCKETEER shelving books.

Apparently his movie did so poorly that he needs a second job.

Some stuff

2007-08-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

I've been working on multiple projects for the last few months and I thought I'd just share some recent work.

On another note my wife just recently finshed the last Harry Potter book (which means that I can now finally read it) and she made a funny quote, "If I summoned a patronus it would probably be a stampede of shoe shoppers that trampled through everything in ther path. It's my happiest moment in life AND it's unstoppable"

She then preceeded to act out what her patronus woud be actually doing and commenced with gesturing the act of pushing a shopping cart. Oh honey, you don't use a cart to shop for shoes..........*GULP*

"The Replacements" on Access Hollywood

2007-07-31T13:38:00.001-07:00

My show was featured on Access Hollywood where we animated Billy Bush and Nancy O Dell (Grrr!) Thought you'd all get a kick out of it.

Comic Con 2007

2007-07-30T08:29:00.001-07:00

I returned from another fun year at the Comic Con in San Diego, CA and I thought I'd share some pics.....

Yeah...I'm at the right place.....

You gotta hand it to people who will dress up and sacrifice their ability to breathe and move in order to sell their product. I know I could never do it.

I walked on the convention floor and I saw some toys and I thought..."Hey, I know this guys work!"

Turns out it was my old buddy Cameron Tiede

I also ran into my old buddy and world famous artist (who needs no introduction) Jeff Soto

Then I accidentally ran into a signing for "The Spiderwick Chronicles" movie and caught up with children's book buddy Tony Diterlizzi (who needs no introduction)

as well as his partner in crime, the lovely and uber talented Holly Black (who needs no introduction)

Tony D was with his buddy Scott Fischer whose work I always admired and we finally met. Who knew we were familiar with each others work?

A comic con isn't complete without some Klingons....

Or Harvey Birdman- Attorney at Law....

Then it was off to the parties. First up was the Gotham Group luncheon which Tony, Holly, and I are all represented by....

Hey look, we caught up with fellow chidren's book guru Gris Grimley (who needs no introduction)

And NAPOLEON DYNAMITE?!?!?!? I actually made the mistake of speaking with him and realizing that it wasn't actually Jon Heder but his identical twin brother Dan Heder.... Tony and Scott had a god laugh and I took a pic with him so I didn't look like a COMPLETE and total ass. Sorry Dan.

I'm not sure if anyone watches Clark and Michael but if you're a fan of Arrested Development you should check out the web show. Anyway, I met Clark Duke and he was cool. Way to go Clark!

Then there was the Disney party which was really swanky and there I met then man, the myth, the legend....

STAN LEE! (who needs no introduction) See that? He's got his arm around my shoulder. We're BUDDIES!!!!

I didn't buy too much this year and I unfortunately got to see only 40% of the convention floor (it was soooo crowded) I ended up picking up the Fleet Street Scandal book. (Kevin Dart and Chris Turnham are so talented) a Totoro doll for my son, and a couple postcards, sketchbooks and prints.

I also got this CW bag roughly the size of a poker table... Harry Potter Book used for scale

The only thing in my mind was that it woud be IDEAL for stashing old baby clothes in the basement.

I may be a nerd but I know my priorities.

Well, I was fully inspired by all the awesome talent and I'm ready to go back to work. It was exactly what I needed.

Out.

Illustration Friday - Moon

2007-07-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Look at that big fat moon up in the sky...surrounded by ghosts.....

This is for an upcoming picture book I'm illustrating for Simon and Schuster. More info here.
I'm currently at the San Diego Comic Con
right now. Pics soon to follow

Illustration Friday - Poem

2007-07-20T11:40:00.001-07:00

The thing about beatniks is that no matter what shape they are, as long as they have attitude, a cigarette, striped shirt, and goatee they can beat their poems. Go Daddy-O.

Robert's Snow 2007

2007-07-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning realizing "Holy Crap! I still have to paint my Robert's Snow Snowflake!"

and so I did, and here it is.....

It's entitled "Chillax!" Chill + Relax = Chillax

This'll be my third year doing a snowflake for cancer research
For more info on Robert's Snow go here.

2007-07-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Some sketches...

Illustration Friday - Discovery

2007-07-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Phillip discovered a new pet out in the desert.

Style Experimentation

2007-06-19T08:54:00.001-07:00

Nowadays, I like to warm up every morning and just draw stuff out of my head to before I start the day. This was a piece that I was inspired by when I was at the bookstore looking at a book about silkscreening. I'm also experimenting with the aspect of limiting my color palette and eventually evolving that more into my editorial work, which I feel could use a good revamping.

2007-06-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

Some of you have been wondering what I've been up to and so I thought I'd share a layout sketch for the current book that I'm working on for Atheneum. I don't normally do sketches this tightly but it's by the publisher's request. I'm quite satisfied so far with the black and white layout and I must say that once color is added it is probably going to be some of the strongest work I've done in a long long time. Now that I don't have that other full time job sitting on my back I get to focus more on details. The designer I'm working with has an excellent design sense and pushes my design sensibilities to a much more subtle and sophisticated level that I normally wouldn't do and I'm learning a lot from it.

This entire piece was completed on simpe 11 X 17 paper with a Col Erase Blue prismacolor pencil which was then scanned and the values were addded in Photoshop.

2007-06-06T08:40:00.001-07:00

2007-06-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Agent Y

2006-11-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

This is a character sketch of the main character of a webcomic I've been wanting to start for the last year. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I've been so busy with work that I haven't had any time to start it.

Illustration Friday- Trouble

2006-10-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

Since this is kinda sketchy and unfinished I posted this in my blog rather than my actual website. I was doing a fun little doodle of Baron Munchausen this morning and I figured he gets himself in quite a bit of trouble.

www.dantat.com

Illustration Friday - Play

2006-08-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE listening to music. Unfortunately I can't play any instruments. I remember taking trumpet lessons in fifth grade and my teacher kept telling me to press my lips together and blow harder which would usually result in me slowly sinking into my chair and getting a pain in my kidney from pushing air out of my tightened lips. Dizzy Gillespie made it look so easy....

Illustration Friday - Capture

2006-08-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

What's a cocodile doing in the forest? I have no idea, but I do know that you can capture one with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

This was a quickie I did this morning, I figured it would be nice to get bck into some old school drawing.

Illustration friday: Clean

2006-07-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

This was a book I did for a toy company a few years back. It was an interactive book so you have to imagine a huge three inch hole in the middle of each half of the spread, which, as you can imagine can create a lot of headaches in terms of composing a nice design. In any case I thought it was a good image for this week's topic

Oh and don't forget.... TONIGHT! Friday JULY 28th at 9:30PM is the Sneak preview to my new cartoon series on the DISNEY CHANNEL. I'd love to hear everyone's feedback on whether you liked it or not and I'd appreciate the notes

Enjoy!

SNEAK PEEK this FRIDAY NIGHT

2006-07-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, I want to invite you all to see a sneak preview of my new cartoon show THIS FRIDAY NIGHT (July 28th) at 9:30 PM on Disney Channel 2. (Apparently there are 2 channels for Disney Channel and it on one of them)

If you see it I'd love to hear all your feedback.

I hope you all like it!

Illustration Friday- Opposite

2006-07-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

No one expected Bruno's dog to be so tiny. In fact, it was the exact 'opposite' of everyone's expectations. He claims it was the gift from an old ex wife.

Illustration Friday: Skyline

2006-07-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hey all, it's been a long time since I posted. I've been super busy with work which includes creating this years Macy's Day Parade poster which I will be documenting online to show my process. Anyway, for all you New Yorkers out there, this is a drawing of the New York Skyline via Bryant Park that I drew a few years ago while on a business trip to the "Big Apple". It was drawn on an old Society of Illustrators pamphlet.

dantat.com

Illustration Friday- Fat

2006-05-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

A "fat" old superhero. This was a piece I did about watching your heroes and idols growing older and not being as quite as sharp as they used to be.

Illustration Friday - Under the Sea

2006-04-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Enchantment from "Under the Sea"

I dig mermaids....I wish they would dig me.

Illustraton Friday- Robot

2006-04-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

My Uncle Makes the Coolest Toys....

I am 8 Bit TONIGHT!

2006-04-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! If any of you live in the Los Angeles area then you probably know that the "I Am 8-Bit" show is tonight at Gallery 1988. This is a huge show with tons of artists paying homage to all the old video games we all grew up with in the early days of gaming. Some of you guys may have seen this piece posted up on Doodlevision months ago of "King Hippo" from Punch Out. It'll be there for you to look at, to buy, or whatever. If anything, this show will feature a big slew of who's who in the animation industry.

So check it out! Here's a link and I hope to see you all tonight!
I Am 8-Bit

Illustration Friday - Spotted

2006-04-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

"On the way to the airport Agent K was -spotted- by ninjas."

This was a piece concept piece done for the Disney Channel animated show "The Rerplacements" coming Fall 2006

Illustration Friday- Speed

2006-04-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Cookie Time!

2006-04-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday-Spring

2006-03-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

Check out my new website where I will archive allmy Illustration Friday Illustrations. In the mean time, "Doodlevision" will still be up and running but will showcase mainly non-Illustration Friday work. Click on the link below to see SPRING

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY-SPRING

Illustration Friday - Monster

2006-03-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

It's show and tell day at school.

Digital vs. Traditional

2006-03-23T11:05:00.001-08:00

I hate to say it, but I think I'm getting the handle on this digital medium. After painting "The Secret Life of Walter Kitty" digitally I'm thinking of making the switch. I hate not having the tangible artpiece as opposed to a digital file composed of ones and zeros....I was tinkering with Photoshop more today and I'm really liking the results. I think my colors are much better as well. Well, we shall see......

Illustration Friday - FEET

2006-03-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

I love seeing feet wading underwater.

Illustration Friday - Tattoo

2006-03-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

The hula girl is pretty much the quintessential tattoo isn't it? That or a skull on fire with a snake going through its eyes.

This piece, by the way, started without a sketch and I went straight to color which is very uncommon of my work. It could be better but, Oh well, this is just for practice....

If I got a tattoo it would probably be of Hervé Villechaize of Fantasy Island fame.... A tattoo of 'Tattoo' if you will.

The Secret Life of Walter Kitty

2006-03-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

Work on "The Secret Life of Walter Kitty" is going very well and the book is really shaping up to be a nice one. With my baby boy almost six weeks old and with a few sleepless nights I'm managing to finish this book up just a few weeks over the intended deadline. I thought I'd share a few illustrations with you all to hopefully whet your appetites. Hope you like 'em!

Illustration Friday - Insect

2006-03-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

Would it be safe to assume that a fly would have poop for lunch in his lunchbox and be totally excited about it?

In the mean time, I'm busy finishing up a book for Random House in the next few weeks and will be looking forward to a much needed break (meaning, two projects instead of three) Yeesh!

Spare and Parker

2006-03-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

This was the design for a wedding announcement that I was asked to draw for my friends Spare and Parker a few years back. Spare and Parker aren't their real names but I'd have to start a whole new blog in order to tell you the back story. Yeesh!

My neighbors place

2006-03-03T05:49:00.000-08:00

We've got some nifty California Craftsman houses around here and I thought I'd flex the old sketching muscle.

Some character studies

2006-03-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning out some old computer files and I came across these old loose character designs that I drew up years ago. Enjoy!

Illustration Friday - Song

2006-02-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

This is a portrait of Radiohead lead singer 'Thom Yorke' done in 3D and traditional media. Lazy eye and all.

Illustration Friday- Simple

2006-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a simple caricature of musician Ben Harper.

"Glamour" Shots

2006-01-29T13:05:00.000-08:00

I made a photo montage of Alek and put it into a little Quicktime movie for friends and family. Just click on one of the two links below.

"Alek" 640x480 7.1MB
"Alek" 320x240 5.1MB

BABY TIME!

2006-01-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

and in this corner....
The 3rd seeded contender who hails from Alhambra, CA with a record of 16-2-1
Weighing in at 7 lbs 6oz and at a hieght of 21 inches.....
Born Jan 26th, 2006 at 2:54PM in the afternoon at Verdugo Hills Hospital
"The Pooper" the "The Annihilator of Milk" and the undisputed "Best Baby in the World"!!!!! -----
Aleksander 'Harrison" Santat!

The wife is fine. One word....Epidural.

Here are a few pics...(Click on the image to see a larger view)

Illustration Friday - Cats

2006-01-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

Here's an illustration I'm working on for an upcoming picture book from Random House written by Brabara Jean Hicks called "The Secret Life of Walter Kitty"

Illustration Friday-"E is for..."

2006-01-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

E is for ENTERTAINER. Here's a caricature of singing legend, Billie Holiday.

Illustration Friday-Sea

2006-01-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

The sea can be a large and intimidating pplace, but with a friend by your side you can tackle anything.

King Hippo

2006-01-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

for all you old video game fans out there....This is "King Hippo" from the Mike Tyson's Punch Out Video game for the Nintendo. I'm going to be participating in an art show here called "I Am 8-Bit" where the theme is old video games. For more info on the show check out I Am 8-Bit

Time Out

2006-01-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

This was an illustration I just completed about ways to fight off the flu this season for Time Out Magazine.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2005-12-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. I really don't have an illustration this week but here's a page from "The Guild of Geniuses" reminding everyone that the holidays are all about warm wishes, friendship, and GIFTS!

Illustration Friday - Imagine

2005-12-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

This is an old piece I did over six years ago for my children's book portfolio. I sold it long time ago and to this day I miss it. It's a picture of a kid dreaming of ships, goldish, and rocket ships, which essentially, I guess, is like an evening of "imagining".

Happy Holidays everyone!

Illustration friday- Surprise

2005-12-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

While coming home from the grocery store the old superhero was taken by "SURPRISE"

Illustration Friday- Blue

2005-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

This was from a series of promotional cards that I sent to art directors with drink recipes on them.

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Blue Hawaiian recipe

Scale ingredients to servings
1 oz light rum
1 cherry
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
1 oz cream of coconut
1 slice pineapple

Blend light rum, blue curacao, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut with one cup ice in an electric blender at high speed. Pour contents into a highball glass. Decorate with the slice of pineapple and a cherry.
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Illustration Friday- Small

2005-11-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

Mungo was tired of being the school mascot and tried his best to play such a "small" instrument in order to join the marching band.

Robert's Snow Cure for Cancer

2005-11-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

All this week I have a snowflake for auction on Ebay for a cancer fundraiser. So if you'd be interested in buying some original artwork for the holidays then click here

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving

The Exchange

2005-11-23T01:56:00.000-08:00

I've been on a spy kick lately. This piece was completed for a gallery show up in Oregon next month. The theme was "Pink Elephants"

Spy's are cool.......

Illustration Friday- Free

2005-11-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

After his many hard years of working at the power plant the Starbot 9000 was FREE to enjoy his retirement.

But where can a big guy go for some peace and quiet?

Barry

2005-11-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

Barry the Bear is in search for a new jacket to go with his nifty hat, shoes, and socks.

Coldplay

2005-11-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

I went to a Coldplay concert last year at the Hollywood Bowl. They were great but the band only played a one hour set because Chris Martin was going to a wedding the next day. Uh, Chris, HELLO! I didn't shell out $90 for two tickets just to hear you play for an hour!

The Hives

2005-11-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Hives are great. They have this energy and playful arrogance that I find truly humorous.

As you can see from the last few posts I've been playing around a lot more with Benday Dots lately, or at least, my Photoshop interpretation of it. I don't see it creeping into my children's book work but I definitely think it adds that graphic extra kick to my editorial stuff.

Batman

2005-11-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

Bjorn Borg

2005-11-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

OK so it's not a caricature.... I don't know, the headband...the socks.... Bjorn Borg BABY! Long live the Swedes!

Four Heads Are One

2005-11-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hip Hop

2005-11-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

Illustration Friday- Strength (or lack thereof)

2005-11-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

I was really debating whether or not to put up something political for this week, then I figured, "Oh, what the heck, 50% of you people couldn't be wrong."

Or are you?

I made this with a voting ballot, chads, crayon, and acrylic.

The Devil's Puppethand

2005-11-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

Heads

2005-11-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

Zen

2005-11-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Fast Food on the Brain

2005-11-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Brad Holland

2005-11-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

This was a great quote from Brad Holland that I read in "Education of An Illustrator" I love this quote and in retrospect I find it to be very true.

An Elvis at the Excalibur

2005-11-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

This was drawn at my bachelor party two years ago. Why the hell I was at the Excalibur I have NO IDEA. I was staying at the Frontier!

Illustration Friday: Night

2005-11-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

Where the Wild Things Are

Illustration Friday: Broken

2005-11-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Mike Tyson

Kill Bill

2005-11-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

Fo' Shizzle....

2005-11-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

Catscratch

2005-11-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

Playtime for giants

2005-11-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Metro 20 (from the Greaseguns and Feathers Graphic Novel)

2005-11-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

Cocktail party

2005-11-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Lounging at the Igloo

2005-11-04T08:25:00.000-08:00

White Russian

2005-11-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

Till We Meet Again

2005-11-02T00:18:00.000-08:00

Gaptooth

2005-11-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

The Son of Death

2005-11-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

I'd Give My Left Arm For A Good War

2005-11-01T03:01:00.000-08:00

Every Pet Seeks Love

2005-11-01T02:58:00.000-08:00

Get Out Fast! You Gotta Love Something!

2005-11-01T02:54:00.000-08:00