5 years? HOLY SHIT.

Something sorta big happened last month--
This blog quietly passed the 5 year mark.
It's been a great 5 years-- thanks for bearing with me when things get long between new posts. (It's usually 'cause I'm busy working on new stuff I can't share yet) Let's see what the next 5 bring...
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Sym-Bionic Titan! New ETSY Art!

Last year while I was busy working on Kick Buttowski, I was able to squeeze in a bit of freelance work for Genndy on his new show, SYM-BIONIC TITAN. Just like the old days, I wound up doing a lot of effects work and lots of military tech-- fun stuff! Here's a small taste:





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I finally added some NEW original art to my long-neglected
Etsy Shop! Snatch one up for yourself while they last!

CB iPhone Sketchbook App !!

**THE FREE DOWNLOAD CODE LOTTERY IS NOW CLOSED AND
ALL WINNERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED BY EMAIL.
THANKS FOR PLAYING!**
At long last, my Sketchbook App from Imaginism Studios has finally been released! You can buy it now for only $3 via the iTunes App Store in either iPhone/iPod Touch version or iPad version, and it's available worldwide!

CARTOON BLOCK Interview

I was recently interviewed by Evan Burse of CARTOON BLOCK as part of their "How To Be an Animator" series, and gave him the lowdown on my career in the biz and also tips to young hopefuls looking to break in. Fueled by lots of coffee and aided by some fancy editing, I sound like I actually know what I'm talking about!

For more artist interviews and drawing tutorials, check out the
CARTOON BLOCK YouTube Channel by clicking on the pic below!

Cut

... but too cute to be left on the cutting room floor.
(From Kick Buttowski)

Coming soon to your iPhone.

Sheesh-- It's time for an update, already!!

The new show I've been working on at Disney for the past year, KICK BUTTOWSKI: SUBURBAN DAREDEVIL, launches Saturday morning February 13th @ 8:30 AM/7:30 Central on Disney XD.

The first episode is now available as a FREE download
in HD at the iTunes Store!
Here's a quick promo clip:

Check out more videos at the official Disney XD YouTube page!
The crew includes artists from Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, & Ni Hao Kai-lan! This one's for the kids, so try to have one with you when you tune in.

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I recently received a Kreativ Blogger Award. How 'bout that? The super-talented Scott Brothers listed me as one of his favorites, so much thanks to ya, Scott!

As part of the rules for the Kreativ Blogger award, I have to nominate the next 7 Kreativ Bloggers, and then list 7 things about myself that people might find interesting. Okay, here's my nominees:

• I call her the best kept secret in animation, but you can just call Brianne Drouhard "Hey You!"
• John Struan's SUPERPUNCH blog is full of fun just waiting to be discovered.
• Most excellent French girlie artist Xavier Ramonède needs to put out book. Like, now.
• My old pal Dan Krall consistently shares killer animation production art and brilliant sketchwork observations of life.
• Bob Shea & Lane Smith's Curious Pages blog will provide you with cool children's book illustrations from around the world.
• Batman Smells is the best year-round Christmas kitsch/culture/design blog out there.
• If you like movies, you owe it to yourself to check out The Art of the Title Sequence blog.

... and 7 things? Okay, you asked for it:

1. I've been on TV, radio, and in the newspaper at various times in my life.
2. As a child, I was encouraged to continue drawing by Sergio Aragones, Al Jaffee, Jim Davis, and Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston. So it's all their fault.
3. I am currently without a gaming system and it hurts.
4. My daughter prefers I read the cartoon-based books to her over my wife, 'cause I can do all the funny voices :)
5. I love toys and action figures, but I don't buy them (unless they're of a show I work on). It's strictly a spectator thing with me.
6. My Dad looks like Carl Fredricksen from UP (If he was 6'4")
7. I really want Thai food for lunch today.

More EL SUPERBEASTO

Here's super-spy Suzy X taking on a horde of Nazi Zombies.
She doesn't look like this in the film anymore :(...............
There's a scene in the movie where Dr. Satan runs shows off his 27 ex-wives (that he keeps in his walk-in freezer) and lists off the problems with each of them. All I had to go on was the dialogue, and I got to run wild with the visuals:







I think we've all dated at least one of these girls....

Open for business!

The Official Chris Battle Etsy Shop is now open for business!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChrisBattle

4 years and counting!

WTF?!? Where did 4 years go?? Yep, it's true-- back in 2005 I started blogging, and by some minor miracle I've managed to keep it going. (Despite the occasional long delay between posts... thanks for hanging in there.) To celebrate, I've got something special happening. Want to find out what? I've started a Facebook Fan Page to provide more *timely* updates between blog posts, and very soon there'll be something fun going on for FB fans only!

So go ahead and click on the Jawa to become a fan!

At long last-- EL SUPERBEASTO

Yes, that's right-- The long-in-the-making Rob Zombie cartoon flick I worked on so many years ago, THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO was finally released last month, so that means I can finally share my artwork from the film with you. (I've been sitting on this stuff for 3 years!)

Robot guy that I am, I got to do all the motorcycle transformation
gags for Murray. Except for the really dirty one--
that was Carey Yost.
Not sure what happened with the final Krongarr that's in the movie;
He looks like he was based on some of my earlier roughs...
Talk about fun: For the first few months my only assignment was to
draw a strip bar full of monsters getting drunk and having lap dances!
Most of this was all rough conceptual stuff; Never got the chance to
flesh 'em out, so you barely see them in the background of the final film.
Blink, and you'll miss these guys:



Dr.Satan's devil slave girl clones got cut early on.

Rob had us sprinkle the movie with in-jokes for his fans,
like Morris Green from "The Devil's Rejects"

Again, I'm not sure what happened to the final Lenny that's seen in the movie; It doesn't look like one of my drawings...
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That's it for now; I've got more ESB stuff to share with you,
so check back later!

Thought Processor Show!

Heads up: I'm taking part in Phoneticontrol's THOUGHT PROCESSOR group show @ Munky King on Thursday, Sept. 3. Come on down and see fun papercraft art by L.A. area artists and animators like my pals Martin Hsu, Jim Mahfood, and Robert Ryan Cory as we show off our interpretations of SF artist Phoneticontrol's creation. This is the L.A. leg of a multi-city touring show, each featuring local talent. Here's mine, combining chaos and kawaii in one iron-clad package-- "Destroyer":




For sale with each Thought Processor will be an original piece of art by it's respective creator. No funds for big art purchases? No biggie--After the show you can download PDFs of all the TPs from Phoneticontrol's site and build one (or more) for your desktop! See you there...

THOUGHT PROCESSOR L.A. SERIES SHOW
9.3.09 – 9.24.09
Thursday, September 3rd, 7-10pm
Munky King Gallery
7308 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA
Directions are HERE.

Let's contribute to the economy, shall we?

The GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT DVD is now in stores! Since I'm a cartoony guy, I rarely get the chance to work on action-adventure stuff, but last year I got to have some fun doing designs for all the alien weaponry for DCU's latest animated film:



My guns about to contribute to some serious mayhem.



My contribution is small, but the real draw here is the amazing work of artists like Jose Lopez, LeSean Thomas, and director Lauren Montgomery. Go get it, and while you're at it, get last year's WONDER WOMAN, too; It kicks ass.

My pal Nina Paley's self-produced, multi-national-award-winning film SITA SINGS THE BLUES is finally available on DVD! While you can download the film for free, why not support indie animators like Nina and get a real, tangible record of her solo animated film? Go to Amazon.com and BUY IT!!

... and CORALINE is out on DVD & Blu-Ray, too! A bunch of my pals worked on this, and the results are spectacular. It even comes with a buncha 3D glasses! Buy this one, too.

I'm hard at work on my first ever papercraft art piece for a group show next month, so I should be able to give you all a sneak peek by the end of this month!