joe randel's art dump

I managed to sneak a quick one of Tink since my house guest has gone to sleep.  I think I’ll do the same now.

Good night.  ^_^

It’s true…  it’s very true.  My wife told me once that she noticed that if we’re out and about and our server/cashier happens to be a red head, I tend to flirt with her a bit.  I don’t even notice I’m doing it to be honest.  She’s fine with it and thinks it’s kind of funny.

On the topic of red heads, I realized today that I’ve never drawn Ariel.  So I did.  Now I can cross her off my list.  Ariel was actually the first cartoon Disney character that I found sexy and attractive, so I’m kind of surprised that I haven’t drawn her yet.  I also did a classy version down below.  Enjoy ^_^

Looks like Tinkerbell is on the docket today.  You could even call this Tink Thursday.  Although Tink Tuesday sounds better.  Oh well, regardless of the day Tinkerbell is always a welcome sight in my books.

I find that I’m thinking more and more about looking in to seeing what it takes to get my art in a Disney store.  My only concern is if they find out about my… um… extra curricular drawings.  I’m sure they wouldn’t be impressed.  Or maybe they would.  Who knows! If not though… I can draw Tinkerbell with clothes on if that’s what you fancy.

See, it’s all good.  You know… seeing this makes me think I didn’t draw her rump/hips big enough.  I’ll have to go over my folio and make sure I didn’t make the same mistake there too.

I had some free time at lunch today so I figured I’d draw some Tinkerbell.  She was wearing her dress at lunch, but sometime between then and now… it’s gotten lost.  Such a shame. ^_^  As for the Tinkerbell folio, it’s still moving along.  It taking a while, but I just want to make sure I’m putting out a good product.  Something that I’ll be proud of.  Until then, you’ll have to enjoy this rough drawing of her.

I’ve started reading a book called Disney’s Art of Aniamtion.  It goes through the very beginnings all the way up to Beauty and Beast.  I find it interesting, the flip I’ve done with regards to Disney.  Back in animation classes, most of us sort of turned our noses up at Disney.  Hate the industry leader because they’re the top of the heap.  Then one day, long before I went to Disney World, another artist asked me “Why do you hate Disney so much”?  …  I couldn’t give him an answer.  I tried to think about what reason I might possibly have to hate them, and I couldn’t do it.  I felt like a fool.  It really made me step back and think about my stance on the topic of Disney.  It was about that time that we started to watch more Disney movies at home.  I really started to study the films and pick out the good points and the bad ones too and really understand what they where trying to do with each one.  I think it was after we did go to Disney World that I made a full turn around on my way of thinking.  I really do respect the art they produce, on all levels and the love and joy they bring to all people.  I trained to be in this industry, but I work in games, and I’d be lying if I said there isn’t a part of me the wishes I was in film animation right now.

As I’ve stated before, Disney was wonderful.  There is an interesting aspect of it though that made it enjoyable.  The human interaction.  Let me explain… when I was there, I wore a Happy Birthday pin with my name on it.  This isn’t strange in it’s self, but what it does is lets the employees know that I’m celebrating something.  The result is that for the next ten days,  just about every Disney employee I passed by wished me a happy birthday.  At first it was a little odd, but then you get used to it and soon you’ll  even quite enjoy it.  It’s becomes sort of ridiculous really.  So much in fact that you’ll start wishing strangers with birthday pins a happy birthday too.  Because you know they’ve heard it about 50 times already and it’s not even lunch time.

Disney employees almost always talk to you, even if it’s not your birthday.  They are outgoing, happy and very friendly.  This too at first is sort of a shock, but you adjust and realize how nice it is to talk to… people.  Soon you feel comfortable talking to just about anyone when you’re there.  You’ll even start up conversations with other guests for no real reason.  You all share this commonality, and that is to have fun, relax and enjoy your time there.  It really is a wonderful feeling having simple conversations with others as you go about your day.  Even simple a simple “hello” or wishing someone a great day is awesome!  What’s really jarring is when you come back to the “real world” and you find that no one really does that.

When I got back this time I was saddened that that level of interaction with people was just not there.  Most people will usually go out of their way to no have any unnecessary conversations with others.  You know what I mean.  Keep your head down, don’t look at anyone, avoid talking with strangers…  It kind of sucks since we are all, by nature, social animals.  Since I’ve been back, I’ve been making a conscious effort to be more upfront and friendly with those I come in contact with during my day, and you know what, it’s great!  I obviously can’t do it on a Disney level, but being friendlier and not being so concerned that I might have to talk to someone (or that they’ll talk to me) has made me happier.  True story!

Now, I do realize that Disney employees have to be that happy and friendly.  I have no doubt that this is part of their training and they will probably loose their job if they’re not that way with the guests.  But most of those people are probably outgoing anyway.  Otherwise, I doubt they would have even got hired in the first place.  But you know what, who cares!  It has to start some where.  Being nice and friendly is infectious.  Being around Disney people makes me want to bring that home to my own life, and try to spread that around!  I know others will think I’m strange, but what I’m doing isn’t bad or wrong, it’s just something that most try to avoid.  I hope, at the very least, I can make someone’s day a bit brighter through my interaction with them.  I know it helps me. ^_^