Toy Story 3 at gallery Nucleus

Sunday, September 12th, Pixar story artist James Robertson and sets art director Robert Kondo will be doing a presentation and book signing on the making of Toy Story 3 at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra. The artists will concentrate on their involvement in one of the film's most climactic sequences, talking about how ideas are taken from script to screen.
For more information and to purchase tickets (only 2$) see the official Nucleus web page.
Be sure to stop by and say hello!

Storyboard drawing by James Robertson.
Concept painting by Robert Kondo.

Newt

You may have heard about Newt, a film that was being developed at Pixar until last year. I was part of the art department where I worked as a character designer. Unfortunately the project faced difficulties that led to its shelving, and eventual cancellation.
A few days ago Disney released a very small portion of the visual development from the film, and it is my pleasure to share it with you here.


Art by Bill Cone, Jason Deamer, Katy Wu, Greg Dykstra, Huy Nguyen, Armand Baltazar, Teddy Newton and myself (though I'd like to credit all the departments whose great work went into developing the film).

Toy Story 3

Today marks 2 years since my first day at Pixar.
So far it's been challenging and exciting, I've met some great folks, I've worked on a few short and feature length projects, I've learned a lot.
Two of the films that I can't wait for you to see are "Day and Night" and "Toy Story 3". While the first, a short, pioneers a new use of mediums in animation, the second soulfully concludes what is in my opinion one of the best trilogies ever done in film.
Go see them (in 3D) June 18th!

(This by the way is also a Golden Book cover illustrated by my friend Adrian Molina.)

Following is a small selection of my artwork from the film and the art-of book.
The first image is of a flat doll created by Nate Wragg, which I was asked to re-work slightly later on in production due to story needs. It was an interesting assignment where I had to preserve the spirit of the character (that Nate had captured really well) while changing her to look more home-made, with adjusted features and proportions. See the evolution below:


The peas were a little more straight forward to design. I started directly from my friend Erik Benson's hilarious board sequence and went from there.


I also recommend buying the "Art Of Toy Story 3" book to see some of the amazing artistry that went into making this movie (a special nod to my husband James who dedicated 3 years to this film and who storyboarded some of the most poignant sequences in it).

Day and Night

I'm proud to share this tidbit of information with you. I had the chance to work on Teddy Newton's latest short film "Day and Night" which will open June 18th with "Toy Story 3" (another film I did character work for). This was so much fun not only because of the brilliant film idea but because of the spirited crew we had, led by Teddy himself, animation director Tom Gately, and production designer Don Shank. Don even designed the titles typeface. He wrote about the film here.
Get excited for this one - it is unlike anything you have seen before!!!

UP

In three days it will be one year since I started working at Pixar, and although I arrived too late to be part of UP, I can't think of a better way to celebrate now than going to see it this weekend!

I don't necessarily want to promote the film, as I think it speaks for itself (you'll know what I mean when you see it), but I'd like to applaud my friends, old and new, who have shared Pete Docter's vision and made an inspired work of art.

Nick, Ronnie, Enrico, Bill, Tony, Justin, Josh, Bobby, and the rest of the Story Department, Daniel, Albert, Lou, Don, Greg, Ralph, Noah, Ricky, Katy, Huy, and all those in the Art Department who put pixel and pencil mileage into the visuals, and of course the animators (too many to list), who made Carl extra grumpy and Russell that much more lovable - congratulations to you all!

Hats off to the UP crew!

Images by Pete Docter, Daniel López Muñoz, Albert Lozano, Ricky Nierva and Lou Romano, colour script by Lou Romano. Visit his blog for a lot more UP art.

Interlude

I had a chance to see WALL-E last Saturday, and I simply have to say that this film will blow you away! Congratulations to Andrew Stanton and his crew, who have created another beautiful and honest piece of cinema!

Incidentally, today was my first day of work in Pixar's Art Department, and now more than ever, I am proud to be part of this incredible studio. Needless to say this is a brilliant opportunity, but the truth is I would have never made it here without the patience and support of my husband James, and the help of my friends Nick and Matt, with whom I've been sharing animated adventures since 1999. Thanks to the three of them, and thanks to all of you who visit my blog regularly (your encouragement too has played a big role in this happy turn of events)!

As for WALL-E, it's a rendez-vous, June 27th!