2D Artist Magazine Article

3 Minute Gesture Sketches

Some recent gesture sketches, on the topic of "Color Linking" and doing sketches in a series.

MAC

NOMAD Gallery Show: OCT. 17, 2009 (4-8 P.M.)

I was invited to be a part of Craig Harris' Nomad Gallery Show, taking place on Oct 17, 2009 4-8pm @ The Ocean Screening Room in beautiful Santa Monica, California. I will have 4 pieces in the show, as they are the entry listed below. If you are available that Satuday, please stop by and say hello, check out some artwork and watch some short films. I'll be there with some fellow artists enjoying the view.

The address is:
The Ocean Screening Room
1401 Ocean Avenue, 1st Floor
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Best,

MAC

Gallery Pieces

These are the pieces that will be at the October 17th Nomad Gallery Show I was asked to be a part of. Each piece is individually matted and framed.

MAC

Pixar's UP Bonus Content

©Disney/Pixar 2009

Creative Talent Network’s Animation Expo. - CTN-X!

Don't forget to register for the Creative Talent Network’s Animation Expo - CTN-X! There are early bird price discounts that end September 30th, so there's still some time left. This is defiantly shaping up to be one of the most anticipated animation conventions, both nationally and internationally so don't miss out as it's in our backyard. It's being held in the City of Burbank beginning Friday, November 20th – Sunday, November 22nd. This is the ONLY place where you’ll meet many of the top brass of the animation and entertainment industry's best. It is will be an amazing event where you are sure to make new contacts, see old friends, learn new techniques and meet with recruiters as well as partaking in many amazing lectures. Come on in and join in on the action where “X” marks the spot to connect with renowned artists from around the world.
• Register online or call today (800) 604-2238. •
- Early bird deadline is Sept. 30, 2009. -

CTN-X takes place at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center with discounted parking and is conveniently located across the street from the Burbank Airport and Amtrak Station. Early bird tickets are $25 for the exhibit floor only, $50 for a day pass and $125 for a 3-day pass. Discounted rates are available to students, active military and professional industry organizations. Space is strictly limited at this groundbreaking event. For more information and to register, please visit: www.ctnanimationexpo.com or call, (800) 604-2238 and mention the special member discount code to obtain an extra 10% off any 1day or 3day professional/general passport.

Here is the special member discount code to obtain an extra 10%

MCDONX09

Some of the artists speaking there are...
Peter de Sève Legendary New York Illustrator
Andy Gaskill Art Director Sony Image Works
Harald Siepermann Character Designer
Marcelo Vignali Art Director Sony
Kent Melton Legendary Maquette Sculptor
Dave Burgess Head of Character Animation Dreamworks
Jason Ryan Dreamworks Supervising Animator
Jerry Beck Animation Historian
Alex McDowell Dreamworks Production Designer
Kathy Altieri Dreamworks Production Designer
Don Bluth Master Animator



To register online:

1Day
https://www.regonline.com?eventID=688849&rTypeID=203785

3Day
https://www.regonline.com?eventID=688849&rTypeID=203787

Vampire Head Studies 01

It's almost that time of year again and I had the opportunity to get caught up on the HBO series True Blood which inspired me to create my own versions of some various Vampires.

Best,

MAC

Vampire Head Studies 03

03 of 03

MAC

A Little Elephant Sketch . . .

Here's a little sketch I did for the release of Disney/Pixar's UP.

Best,

MAC
©Disney/Pixar 2009

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

Toronto Fan Expo - Wrap Up

I'm back after an amazing trip to Canada that was very nice and successful. I sold all of my books and had an incredible time with friends and fellow artists alike. From the cleanliness of the city to the great night life . . . Toronto was pretty incredible. I thank everyone I had the chance to meet, from student, fan, artist and everything in-between . . . it was an absolute pleasure meeting everyone. I hope everyone got home safe with a sack full of books and plenty of goodies.

If anyone has pictures please due share as I was so overwhelmed with signing and what-not I forgot to take pictures.

All my best to everyone,

MAC

Toronto Fan Expo!!!

I'll be @ the Toronto Fan Expo alongside many of the talent artists in the Animation and Entertainment Industry. If you're in Canada or planing to attend, stop by and say hello.

Best,

MAC

Figure Drawing - Female Nuddies!!!

These are some recent figure drawing sketches . . . I'm on a Pen and Ink kick.

MAC

Recent Sketchbook Sketches

Recent sketches using a new Pentel Brush pen.

Sketches from a Disney session where I was speaking about how to think through the form for shorter poses while still focusing on the character of the pose/person and her action.

More Brush pen samples focusing on character and how to apply line to compliment that stylistic choice.

A few more playful samples with the Pentel Brush pen.

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

HAPPY 4th OF JULY . . .

. . . to the Westerns that is.

Don't get the Blues, summer is here!!!

Best,

MAC

Recent Figure Drawing Sketches

Here are some recent sketches using water color during a recent figure drawing session.

Happy 4th to Everyone!!!

Best,

MAC

TEACHING NEW CLASS - Monday 4-7PM!!!

New Class:
MONDAY 4pm-7pm

Starting Monday JULY 6th!!!

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

Visual Storytellers Studio - INTERVIEW

I was recently asked to do an online PodCast for a really kind and generous artist, Sam Kirkman who heads up the Visual Storytellers Studio for Illustrators and Children's Book Illustrators alike. If you interested please check it out and let me know what you think:

Check out the link to the right: INTERVIEW 03 - - - - - >

MAC

Chinese Playing Cards

These were done just for fun.
Best,

MAC

Chinese Magistrate

Everyone can have a challenging day . . . especially a Chinese Magistrate. It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it.

(This is a piece that I did while I was discussing to my class at Disney, that subtilty within gesture drawing is just as important as a bold or grand storytelling movement. I was instilling not to forget the same impact can be made by emphasizing a quiet moment within a drawing or design.)

Best,

MAC

Sketchbook Doodles 001

Here's a couple of pages from a new sketchbook I started. The images on the left were from a visit to Sony where the amazing Marcelo Vignali: (http://vignalistudio.blogspot.com/) has founded his Sketchclub: (http://www.sketchclub.blogspot.com/).

Based on the fun I have had visiting and seeing such an amazingly diverse group of talent artists, its spurred me to start my vary own Sketchclub, Sketchclub East: (http://www.sketchclubeast.blogspot.com/) - with a group of amazingly talented friends of mine on our side of the hill. It's been quiet on our side of the hill for a little while, but that's about to change.
The Sketchclub East is back again . . . with lots more to come later.

Best to everyone,

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)

Costumed Gesture Drawing Class - Last Spots Available!!!

Lookin' out . . .

While I was out painting with a good (and very talented) friend of mine, Dee Farnsworth, she snapped this shot of me and added the nice touches while I was looking out over the hills I was painting.

Happy Easter/Passover!!!!

MAC

Instruction: LAAFA Gesture Drawing Class

I will be teaching a weekend class at LAAFA on Sundays if anyone is interested. It is for Costumed Gesture Drawing which is the first time I have offered the class outside of me teaching at Disney for their Employee-only Enrichment Classes. If you're interested, please see below as the deadline is almost up:

http://www.laafa.org/sessions/classes_details.php?id=44&class_id=1643&cat_id=1

Best to everyone . . . please excuse the delay in posts I have been a busy man . . . but I will be posting very soon . . . along with having my book available,

MAC