Meltdown & Stewart Ng Now Have My Book -

(If you check out Meltdown, tell Gaston Mark sent you by!)

And

(You couldn't meet a more knowledgeable and friendly person than Stuart!)

• Two of my favorite places to shop and be inspired by are now carrying my book, so if you were ever to wonder what the book looks like and have not had a chance to flip through the pages personal, these are two great places to get your hands on a copy. Meltdown is located off of Sunset in LA and the amazing Stuart Ng Books (and I really truly mean it) is located in Torrance but well worth the drive no matter where you live, you can trust me!

Best,

MAC

Recent ImagineFX Book Review - Issue # 47

Upon arriving home from the Toronto Fan Expo, I was just told my book was reviewed by a fantastic magazine on digital painting for Fantasy and Sci-Fi Digital Art. It really is my favorite magazine and even though the review is small, I'm honored to be amongst such a great publication.

- And as for more finalized rendered sketches, The Art and Feel of Making It Real: Volume 02 will have plenty to satisfy you. It has no official due date and will be out only "in the future," but I have already started working on it.

All my best,

MAC

COMIC CON Wrap-Up & SUMMER VACATION

Well this was quite a year that has only just begun it seems. In the last three weeks I became a GodFather, happily showed my book and artwork at a booth at Comic Con and flew out to Sweden the day after the show for a two week vacation.

I have to say I was blown away by how amazing it was to be at Comic Con and how many people showed up to say hello. I want to really say thank you to everyone who came out and stopped by. I was overwhelmed at the amount of books I was lucky enough sign, draw in and hand over to so many of the faces I have been inspired by and blogging with for quite a few years now. THANK YOU to everyone, this was an amazing experience for my first time being on the floor and selling at this year's Comic Con. The talent and comradery was overwhelming.

Some of the amazing talent that I was lucky enough to see again and speak to were:

Peter de Seve
John Nevarez
Patrick Morgan
Jose Lopez
Ed Acosta
Taesoo Kim
Donnachada
Octavio Rodriguez
Dave Johnson
David and Susan Colman
Joe and Jimin Weatherly
Bobby Chiu
Kei Acedera
Hans Ranum
Robh Ruppel
Tina Price
Craig Elliot
Steve Silver
Kelsey Mann
Nathan Fowkes
Stuart Ng @ Stuart Ng Books

and many many more . . . . Thank you to everyone who came out!!!

MAC

COMIC CON EXCLUSIVE - Original Art for Sale @ BOOTH# 5362!!!

In an effort to do something new and for the fans who come out to the Comic Con, I will ONLY be offering my original artwork @ COMIC CON 2009 and at a book signing further on down the road sometime later this year. Many of the pieces are published inside my book, THE ART AND FEEL OF MAKING IT REAL as well as plenty that has not reached print . . . yet! So please come out and stop by, say hello and thumb through copies of my book as well as plenty of artwork at booth # 5362, listed under LAAFA - the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art.

I hope to see everyone there.

All my best,

MAC

COMIC CON 2009 - I'll be @ BOOTH 5362 (Under LAAFA)!!!

I will be exhibiting at Booth 5362 listed under LAAFA (the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Arts) which is one of the schools I am an instructor for.

I will have copies of my new book: The Art and Feel of Making it Real. I will also be offering for the first time, well over 200 original drawings for sale (with images from the book as well as other original pieces that are all bagged/boared for protection and transit).

Please stop by as I will be more than happy to sign books and do sketches inside if desired. Hope to see you there July 23-26th @ the San Diego Convention Center!!! I'm looking forward to it as this is the only convention I will be offering my original artwork for sale at. So come by and say hello as well as thumb through countless drawings. I'll have a copy of my book waiting for you . . .

All my best,

MAC

Animation Mentor Book Review

http://www.animationmentor.com/newsletter/0609/feature_showcase.html

Recent Gesture Instruction @ The Walt Disney Company

These drawings were done from a recent session I taught at the Walt Disney Company. In this class I was stressing to the employees about thinking about the importance of not only capturing the essence of the pose, but making it personal and taking it to a higher level of completion. The level of completion can vary from artist to artist but one of the important things that I try to get artists to think about is the use of "color linking," (a term which I coined that I talk about in depth in Chapter 9 my book - The Art and Feel of Making It Real). This principle is a great way to link each of the drawings from a particular session into a cohesive set, similar to what is done in Visual Development when working on feature films.

Best,

MAC

One Minute Sketches Amongst Pirate's . . .

After finishing teaching my class on Sunday @ LAAFA, I gave one of my favorite models John Tucker my one minute sketches as a gift to his wife for Mother's Day.

MAC

Gesture Sketch - Pirate!!!

Here's a sketch I did recently while discussing the importance of freeing up yourself and not getting bogged down in construction and anatomy while instructing at LAAFA.

I do have 4 more book orders where I would be happy to do a full page sketch. The next one who orders will get this sketch inside their book cover as well. It's about 9" x 5".

Best,

MAC

100 Copies + NEXT 10 ORDERs FULL PAGE SKETCHes

Due to the number of orders that came for The Art and Feel of Making it Real in response from the previous message sent out today - The NEXT TEN (10) people to buy the next book will get a signed edition with a SKETCH THAT FILLS THE ENTIRE PAGE.


Happy Weekend,

MAC

100th Copy & Full Page Sketches!!!

I am happy to say the 100th copy of my book was sold this week which I have everyone to thank. I could not be more happy at the success that The Art and Feel of Making It Real has accomplished.

• -For the next person to order a book I will be happy to SIGN it and happily do a FULL PAGE SKETCH to show my gratitude.- •

Best to everyone,

MAC

The Art And Feel Of Making It Real - DEBUT

This week I had the privilege of debuting my new book - The Art and Feel of Making It Real: Gesture Drawing for the Animation and Entertainment Industry in Calgary this weekend. If you were in Canada and had a chance to attend the Expo, thanks for stopping by and saying hello. I could not have had a better time with the fans, my colleagues and everyone one who came out and asked for autographs, drawings and anything in between.

Best,

MAC

(If anyone has any HiRez pictures, please send them along to: Cre8tivemark@aol.com)

The Art And Feel Of Making It Real - INTERVIEW TOO

http://www.canvassingartists.com/2009/02/to-say-that-mark-mcdonnell-artist-is.html

After purchasing a copy of my book, I was lucky to be asked to be contacted by a very talented and interested Monica Eastin to have a sit down and talk about what I do and why I do it through the ever popular Skype software. Please let me know what you think - (It's short and sweet and gets right to the point).

This interview is a very nice personal and revealing piece that I was surprised and delighted to read when it was completed.

Best,

MAC

The Art And Feel Of Making It Real - INTERVIEW 01

I was recently interviewed by Randall Sly, who runs a very popular animation and entertainment blogsite that is devoted to animation and entertainment artists. The site is "Characterdesign.blogspot.com," for which I was lucky enough to do an interview for. Today I was informed that they have posted the interview alongside some of my work for people to get an insight to who I am and what I do:

http://mark-mcdonnell-interview.blogspot.com/

Take a look and let me know what you think when you get a chance.

All My Best,

MAC

The Art And Feel Of Making It Real - Sample Pages!!!

PRE-ORDER IS OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE!!!

MY BOOK IS NOW OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!!!!

I got the final word from the publisher and all is on time and on schedule for delivery the last week of March, SO ORDER NOW!!!!


MAC