This was not a surprise party, but my arrival was unexpected, as I had been away from Australia for many years, and it is one of the very few times that I think my family actually pulled off a genuine SURPRISE. Security leaks spoiled any subsequent attempts (although those later celebrations were still fun). However, the operation went smoothly on this occasion, partly because I didn’t tell ANYONE that I was coming home to Australia from France, after 4 straight years abroad.

It was the middle of winter and just a few days later it snowed (I have some shots from that same trip of the Baker family home covered in white, which is unusual in my home town) but on THIS particular day it was just about the most beautiful weather, and so the celebrations took place outside, at tables set up in the garden behind the house that I grew up in.

I was sitting opposite my Grandfather on that day, and couldn’t take my eyes off of his hands, (unless it was to look up at his cheery old noggin) and, happily, I had the presence of mind to snap a photograph of them back then, because seeing those hands had a similar, mesmerising effect on me again, on the day that I re-discovered this photo of them. Almost 20 years after the picture was taken and 10 years since my Grandfather died.

There’s as much history, character and expressiveness in hands as faces, but we don’t often look at them. In fact, I think that hands tell a story that faces do not because, relatively early in our lives, we learn to mask the feelings on our faces, but our hands often show what is really going on inside of us (this is the animator in me talking, now).

These rough old hands, that spent a lifetime working with horses and in rural stables, and their dirty yet somehow delicate fingernails ever-so gently caressing a fancy drinking glass, say so much to me about the many aspects of the lovely man who was behind them.

VERA BROSGOL is incapable of doing an un-appealing drawing. I have seen beautiful storyboard drawings simply SQUIRT from her fingertips (personally, I have to GRUNT mine out). Not only a bad-ass storyboarder, (one of the tiny story-team on CORALINE) Vera is also a comics artist extraordinaire (a founding member of FLIGHT). I saw a book she is working on now and it is just super; the writing, the drawing, the works. More about Vera on her site and not-very-often-updated blog.

GRAHAM ANNABLE’s brilliant work was familiar to me long before I ever met him. He is one of the founders of the HICKEE comics anthology and his YOUTUBE animation has given me chuckles for ages now. Graham’s sense of animation timing is truly hilarious. He too is a super storyboard artist (another CORALINE alumnus) and this master of all things also finds time to keep a regularly updated Blog

CHRIS TURNHAM’s lovely designs for CORALINE can be seen on his Blog. His beautiful artwork also graces the walls of one of the project development rooms at Laika (I sneak in there to check out his paintings for inspiration every so often). Chris is part of a book collaboration with his friend Kevin Dart, and more info about Chris’ very own art prints can be found at at his folio website.

The film is fantastic, and watching it was extra fun for me because a good amount of my work actually made it into the final film; not always the case when you work only at the very beginning of the process, which was the case for me here. I am philosophical about having most (if not all) of my work cut out of projects because, after all, that exploration and opportunity to revise is what storyboarding is all about. So it was a special treat to see a lot of my work in the film. I very much enjoyed the working on this project with a crew that was full of gracious people, all the way UP to the directors themselves. However, all those good vibes didn’t make it a cake walk; I worked harder on this film than any other!

The most gratifying part of it all is to see the finished film. It came out wonderfully. This film has a blend of madcap silliness and yet emotional realism that is difficult to strike, but one of the things I most enjoyed about it. I have never seen a story like this before and I think it is one of the best that Pixar has ever done (though I clearly have my own bias on that score) but I can state with absolute conviction that it is certainly my favourite film that I have worked on thus far. I hope that you all like it too. It opens everywhere on May 29th.

On my way home, I went to say a quick hello to my old pal BILL CONE, at the artist’s reception of his new gallery show Light, Water & Granite, being held at the Studio Gallery. I suggested to him that his brain is clearly wired differently than mine to be able to see, and represent, colour and light in the wonderful way that he does. I am unable to reproduce scenes in that way myself… He responded that the great thing about humans is that we are all wired differently… Which sounded profound at the time… but I later realised it was just a nicer way of saying “Either you got it or you don’t, kid!”

Hee hee

Bill’s magnificent Plein Air pastel studies of the Sierra, done over the past 4 years, will be on display until May 10th. Please go and see the master of light working his magic.

My sketchbook would be better called a “doodlebook” because it is full of stuff I see in my head. I rarely do proper sketches of things seen in the real world. I plan to fill my NEXT book with life-drawings and sketches done on location, but the one I have NOW Is page after page of silly characters, ideas for poses, page thumbnails for comics I will probably never draw and other meaningless thing-a-ma-jigs…

Oh yeah, and lots of drawings of pretty ladies… Wotta dork.

Everyone agreed that this was wonderful show. Bay Area exhibitors claimed that their sales were much more than they were expecting and that they all preferred this con over recent experiences at Wondercon… Apart from that, it was just pleasant to attend; lots of great costumes (Hellboy Jr, and Kid Abe Sapien were highlights) and a fun, cheerful atmosphere.

Cons are a great chance to catch up with people, even those whom I see often. I regret not being able to spend more time with everyone but you can only fit so much socialising into a weekend… In fact, we were already talking abut the logistics of socialising at COMIC CON which is only a few months away… Chris Turnham (a co-worker at LAIKA) was also exhibiting with his friend Kevin Dart and their booth was right next door to Ted & Derek’s. It was great to see their work. There were some also some OTHER familiar faces on deck:

Like all my exhibitor pals, Ted & Derek were pretty much chair-bound at the con. I saw them for Breakfast and dinner each day but in between times I wandered about the city, SOLO. The weather was so unbelievably pretty that I simply HAD to get outside (working in Portland has taught me to make the most of sunshine when it comes my way). A highlight of these explorations was the Science Fiction Museum, which houses the impressive memorabilia stash of Paul Allen (of Microsoft). The collection includes Captain Kirk’s chair, A full size Spinner (from Blade Runner) and blasters, phasers, and laser pistols from every Sci-Fi movie and TV show you could name. Luckily for me, Every nerd for a 500 mile radius was at the Emerald City Comic Con, so I more or less had the museum to myself and was able to take my time perusing a Billionaire’s geek-stash at my leisure..

Finding dinner without walking all over the place is hard at cons, and Saturday was no exception to that rule. I take some of the blame for it his time, as the first place we entered was wall-to-wall punch-able faces and I decreed that we would have to eat elsewhere… Thanks to Brian & Heather’s local knowledge, we were taken to a very cosy pub with great food. We all agreed that the long walk to SMITH was well worth it. The quality of the appetisers (Deep fried pork shoulder with chimichurri and a serving of Sweet potato fries) hinted that we’d be in for a treat when the main courses showed up… and indeed we were.

Seattle reminds me of other Bayside cities that I love; San Francisco, Vancouver, Sydney, Hong Kong, Macau… there is just something about Harbour Cities… Perhaps the rhythms of the tidal water gives these places a special vitality… When on the ferry to Bainbridge Island I had a visceral memory-flash of riding the Manly Ferry across Sydney Harbour… a journey I often made when I first moved to Sydney from my home town. But while the journey from Sydney’s Circlular Quay to the Northern suburb of Manly takes the passenger towards sandy white beaches, the Bainbridge Ferry is headed for snow capped mountains…

It also occurred to me, while wandering around Pioneer Square on Sunday, that it is EXACTLY 20 years since I was last in Seattle. March/April 1989… when I first came to the USA as a back-packing traveler. I hadn’t thought of the time-line until seeing some buildings brought some memories back to me. After tracking down one or two familiar places, I headed back to the CON to reconnoiter with my cronies. Selling out of their stock allowed Ted & Derek the luxury of an early departure from the CON and made it possible for us to have a leisurely FEAST OF CON-OVER with Brian and Heather at The Alibi Room down by the Pike Place market, before our respective flights left that evening. The delicious pizzas (Grape & Blue Cheese, and Chicken Sausage & Basil) were a very tasty end to a satisfying weekend.

I’ve been thinking that I should put the doodle-book aside for a while, start a proper sketch-book and make a concerted effort to draw what I actually see in the real world (as well as what I see on the inside of my skull) in future.. and work on those observation skills…