HAPPY HOLI-DAZE!

Here at the Chris Battle Ilustration corporate HQ, we're so green that we even recycle our old art so that we may provide you, our loyal customer, with guilt-free, eco-friendly holiday greetings!

Have a nice holiday, everyone! ...and don't freeze to death waiting in line for PS3s and Wiis.

New girlie pic + new job = new post

Here's a little something I cooked up recently. The original rough Post-It sketch went to the lucky guy who won the random pick from the last post.


As I mentioned in the CF interview, I recently started a new job at Nickelodeon doing Character Design on SUPER SCOUT. Though I've done lots of freelance for Nick, this is my first time actually in-house. It should prove to be lots of fun, mainly 'cause the show is gonna be super-cool, I'm working with a bunch of old pals, and also because of this:

OH YEAH!
There's nothing like getting to play with an expensive toy on somebody else's dime. Of course, if my digital skillz don't improve over the course of this show, I deserve a massive kick in the nuts.

Check me out on Channel Frederator!

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Channel Frederator's Jeaux Javonsky. Learn all the answers to questions you never really wanted to ask me! Knowledge can be yours with a click on the picture above or right HERE.

You cats all know about Channel Frederator, right? After having such a big impact on cable animation at Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, Fred Seibert decided to do the same for the internet, exposing the world to fresh new cartoons by making them available for download. Be sure to check 'em out! Also, be sure to check out Jeaux's blog All of My Heroes Have Day Jobs and check in on his quest to "attain a sweet Animation Industry Job" (He's off to a good start, doncha think?)

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THE POSTCARD AND POST-IT DOODLE LOTTERY IS NOW CLOSED.

Thanks to everyone for dropping by; I was surprised by everyone's enthusiasm and sincere desire to own a little bit of my art! The postcards have been mailed out, and that lucky random guy or gal's Post-It drawing is flying it's way to their eager little hands. Maybe someday I should make a small batch of postcard sets for sale to those who are interested. Hmmmm....Stay tuned.

Everybody loves The Mayor!

Here's a cool statue of the Mayor of Townsville that I got to design for THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE:


...and here's how it looked in the movie (Just before being blown to bits):


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Happy Birfday to me!

No, not my actual birthday, but my blog's! Hard to believe, but it's been a little over a year since I started blogging... and man, what a crazy year it's been.(Time flies when you're not regularly updating!) Definitely nice to be part of the art blog explosion.

To celebrate, I'll send a special "J IS FOR JAWA" promo postcard to the first 6 people who post a comment! (One per person, so no multiple posts, kids) ...and ONE random person will receive a special *BONUS* Post-It doodle. So get postin'.... maybe you'll get one.

Hopefully, I'll keep posting enough new stuff to keep all you guys coming back for year 2 :)

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EL TIGRE Art Show Pics

The EL TIGRE crew's Dia de Los Muertos art show was packed, and it wasn't just for the free-flowin' margartias:

Traditional tribute to everyone's passed family members

There's those Super Muertos Bros.... and, yup, they sold.

Eddie Trigueros' tribute to dead cartoon cats

Steve Lambe, kicking ass.

Phil Rynda, Ian Wasseluk, and Steve Lambe got so drunk they joined the Marines

EL TIGRE creators Jorge Gutierrez & Sandra Equihua also celebrated their anniversary!

Jorge did so much art, one photo isn't enough to contain it!

Sandra shows off her embroidery skills

Miss Mindy, Sandra, and a hatless Rick O'Brien

Mindy and yours truly show off what a good buzz does for you

Super Muerto Brothers!

Here's two pieces I did for a special Dia de Los Muertos art show featuring works by the EL TIGRE crew. Dia de Los Muertos is the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration, and perhaps the most recognizable image of this holiday is the calaca. Borrowing a page (or maybe a whole chapter) from Pringle, I came up with these guys:



If I can manage to find a local printer in time (I moved last year and don't know where to find jack shit in my new environs), they'll be hanging in the lobby at Nickelodeon in Burbank for Halloween, that other Gringo holiday.

*HOT NEW UPDATE! Thanks to an assist from everybody's pal Lambey, the Brothers Muerto will be on display! Come on down for margaritas, kids!

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EL TIGRE Sneak Peek now online!

Check out the freshly leaked preview for Jorge Gutierrez & Sandra Equiha's EL TIGRE! I've been doing some work on the series for a few months now, and while I had nothing to do with this promo, you should definitely take a peek at what's gonna be one of the best new cartoons for '07!

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PS: Many thanks to my NY cartoon pals Diane, Nina, and "Mister" Tom for finding time to hang out while I was in yer fine city!

Animal Farm

Naw, I'm not gonna get all Orwellian on you; Just thought I'd share a couple of animal designs from XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN:

Sorry, no rabid squirrels this week.

As a bonus, here's some phone doodles I did while I was
on hold with Apple Support last week.

MELTDOWN!

Tired of looking at the same old post for the past few weeks? So am I. My computer, on the other hand, couldn't care less. Why else would the hard drive fail? That's right-- right in the middle of freelance, my trusty lil' G4 made a nice, whiny pop and shut down for good. A trip to the Apple Store confirmed the worst: my lil' buddy's HD was a goner. While replacing a hard drive is easy, restoring your system from your back-up HD is another thing entirely. Things aren't going smoothly, so don't expect any pretty new artwork for a few more days.

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YOU MUST GO TO THIS ART SHOW!

Check it out: This weekend, it's time for another cool show by cartoon superstars Chris Reccardi and Lynne Naylor at M MODERN GALLERY in Palm Springs. It all goes down Saturday October 14, from 7:00-10:00 pm, so make the drive out to the desert to see some of the coolest art ever!

XIAOLIN Dim Sum

After last week's crocodile tease, here's some assorted tasty XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN morsels for all:

Yeah, but what have you done for me lately?

I'm so dang busy these days, it's hard to find the time to spiff up my artwork to make it blog-worthy. Since most of that stuff is only half-polished, here's a giant prehistoric crocodile from XIOALIN SHOWDOWN to tide you over: It's hanging out in a deep-sea cavern next to Atlantis, so that's why it's got the glowing eyes 'n' stuff. .............................................

TOP SECRET!

People sometimes ask me "What are you working on now?" and "When can you post some stuff from EL SUPERBEASTO?" Well, it's like this: I recently finished up work on BEASTO, and it won't be coming out 'til 2007, so in the meantime, I can't post any of the artwork I did for the movie. (They even made us sign papers that specifically mentioned blogs!) Maybe if they put some of my art on the official website, it can be considered "declassified", but not until then, I guess. ....so as I search for that next cool project, I'm doing some work on Jorge Guiterrez & Sandra Equihua's wild new show at Nickelodeon, EL TIGRE. That won't be out until 2007 either, so you can't see any of my stuff for that, too. :( ...I'm also working with the cool cats over at GHOSTBOT on a sooper secret project that I can't even tell you about! What's next for this kid? As soon as I know, I'll let all of you know....

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HOW DID I ALMOST MISS THIS ONE?

Giant Robot's sister store GR2 has an awesome Post-It art show, POST DEUX, on display thru September 19. Their walls are covered in tons of the little yellow stickies (Nearly 2,000) featuring the doodles of 32 different artists. Super-cool; Check it out! ....and be sure to stop at Beard Papa for creampuffs before you leave.

I'm a simple man

Sometimes, it's the simple props that are the most fun:






Even a complex prop like a cop car can be made simple:

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THE TRUTH ABOUT ANIMATION

This is a quote by a good friend of mine in the biz, who is actually a totally happy, upbeat, successful guy. He is also an awesome cynic. I'm not bitter (for reals!), I just find this too funny, and 100% acurate. Remember, deep inside every cynic is a frustrated optimist. :)

NOTE: This post contains a bad word.

Doodle Dump

As usual, most of these are all done on 2x3 Post-Its.

I think aliens would enjoy the Japanese athetic.

I don't know what this is about; Maybe that we don't send letters or cards anymore 'cause of e-mail?

Okay, this was done on 4x6

O-yasumi nasai!