Digital artist Pixeloo has created a super-real version of Nintendo’s Mario (full image on his site). It’s not bad but he’s no match for this Mario:

There may not be a whole lot that’s funny about the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto, but illustrator Steve Brodner managed to create this political cartoon that works in references to both Pluto and Bluto:

Speaking of Brodner, he not only has a blog that features his latest work, but also a fun new video series on the NewYorker.com—“The Naked Campaign”—where he does ‘chalk talks’ about the presidential candidates and places them in context of earlier presidents and cultural figures. The Obama/Lincoln transformation is particularly entertaining. The After Effects animation in these pieces is provided by NY commercial studio Asterisk Animation.

(Thanks, Jakob Schuh)

Daily Show associate producer Dave Blog posted a flickr set scanned from an old cartooning manual he picked up at an estate sale.

Tack’s Cartoon Tips for the Aspiring Cartoonist (Devoe & Reynolds, 1923). If anyone has any further information on B. “Tack” Knight, please fill us in.

Lev Polyakov sent this Thanksgiving greeting below.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Last week at Platform, Jerry and I both received a lot of compliments about our new CartoonBrew/CartoonBrewFilms promo piece. So I thought it’d be nice to take a moment and give credit where it’s due. Chris McD is the artist we commissioned to do our first two promo pieces and we’re quite pleased with how they both turned out. I think that’s because Chris is equal parts designer and illustrator, and he focuses as much on getting the concept and message right as he does into producing a striking visual piece.

I’ve known Chris since his days at SVA when we used to trade Animation Blast and Meathaus issues. Later on, I saw him frequently while I was working at Spumco and he was developing a feature project there for Ralph Bakshi. I actually have no idea how Chris found the time to do these pieces for us since he’s always super busy working on animated series (Yo Gabba Gabba, Tom Goes to the Mayor), designing books (the upcoming Ralph Bakshi one) and serving as one of the guiding forces behind the Meathaus illustration collective, which also has an excellent blog here.

Here are the two pieces Chris did for us. The first is an 8.5″x11″ flyer, the second is a double-sided 5.5″x8.5″ postcard (only the front is shown).

A new Pixar film usually means another great Chronicle Art Of book and, at the other end of the spectrum, another neat looking Little Golden Book.

It’s easy to overlook the Golden Books - and difficult to find them - even in major bookstores. I just came across the Ratatouille one at my local Ralphs supermarket this morning. It’s a 24 page delight (especially for $2.99), with gorgeous art, credited to Scott Tilley, Jean-Paul Orpinas (illustrators) and Tony Fejeran (designer). As a long time fan of vintage Little Golden Books, the recent Pixar volumes are excellent additions to the collection.

Have you noticed how Pixar’s character merchandising art translates perfectly in two-dimensional and hand drawn versions? That’s due, of course, to the characters basic design and Pixar’s cartooning aesthetic. It’s also due to the calibre of artists assigned to create this ancillary artwork. One particularly cool looking publicity project was a series of images inspired by A.M. Cassandre’s vintage French posters, designed and painted by Stephane Kardos (above) and Eric Tan. It’s this kind of attention to detail, and sense of style, that keeps Pixar ahead of the pack - on screen and off.

The GL. Holtegaard museum near Copenhagen has a Kay Nielsen exhibit on display until August 19. The show features over 120 drawings and illustrations, including some of Nielsen’s work from Fantasia on loan from Disney. If you can’t make the show, there’s plenty of Nielsen’s illustrations online at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive and ArtPassions.net.

(Thanks, Alex Rannie)

I’ve just discovered the blog of Enzo Avolio and am blown away by his beautiful artwork and animation design. Avolio teaches character design at Sheridan College and a brief interview with him was posted last year on CharacterDesign.blogspot.com. Nice stuff.

Attention L.A. area artists. This one’s for you: on Saturday, June 9th, from 10 am to 1 pm, at Otis College of Art and Design on their campus near LAX, arts instructor Michael Dooley will moderate “Good Business is the Best Art: How to Succeed in Fine Art without Really Starving” with panelists Amy Kim Ganter, Camille Rose Garcia, Anthony Ausgang (art above), Coop, Mark Todd, and Esther Pearl Watson.

This three-hour presentation/discussion will cover a wide variety of art-related topics, including how they mix and blend their animation and cartooning work with their fine art careers.

Join these celebrated artists for three hours of revealing conversation, as they present their work, divulge behind-the-scenes secrets of their art entrepreneurship, and discuss artistic strategies for successful marketing and building name brand recognition. The artists will also be signing books and selling items immediately after the event.

Tickets are available online at ticketweb.com or call 866.468.3399.

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