Here is the first of a series of webmercials we are doing for Scotiabank, which I'm helping to design, draw and animate :)

Choose a Cat! Draw a Girl!

I don't know Harvey James but this sounded too fun to pass up. Check out the rest here!

When I saw those pretty Canadian Mounties during Michael Buble's ridiculously over-the-top performance at the Olympic Closing Ceremonies, I decided I wanted to be a Mountie for Halloween this year. Although it would have been fun to replicate the red dress-like costume the dancers wore, I found a great red blazer at Value Village which made the rest of the costume pretty easy to sew together.

All in all, I think it turned out quite well!

And guess what! I found an old school $5 bill in the pocket of the blazer when I got home! Win! :D

This summer I animated on PBS Kid's new Loop Scoops, which are shorts that educate kids on sustainability and the environment. It's a show created with Annie Leonard, who did the wonderful Story of Stuff, in which she visually explains consumer culture and it's consequences.

We at Global Mechanic storyboarded, designed and animated Loop Scoops which can be found below. I animated on the first four (Challenge of the Sphinx), and the last four are done by my coworkers. For the most part, I animated all the scenes that don't have the Sphinx.

It's a great way to get kids thinking about the environmental impacts of the choices we make. I think my favourite is the Happiness Store, and but I had the most fun animating the African claw frogs. What do you think?

More:

Orange Juice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CTUk6-0Ve8

Electronic Game Device: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXjk6nYMNIA

Juice Box: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LajLBVquQo0

Magazines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRHddupslM0

Speaking of animating about the environment, here's another video I animated last year for Discovery Channel's Planet Green called Waste Not, Want Not.

Illustrated Journey Exhibition

This is a repost of an entry I wrote on www.illustratedjourney.ca:

A big thank you to all who came out to the Illustrated Journey Youth Project exhibition last Saturday! We had such a fantastic time celebrating the comics that we created and it was definitely rewarding to share them with you all. Thanks to all the youth for the laughter, the stories and the friendships! Keep on drawing and storytelling!

What a beautiful day for an exhibition. Pear, Dergie and Jordon made some wonderful speeches!

We made even more comics at the comic making table. Los Castorcitos performed for us too.

If you have any stories or photos to share from the exhibition, or would like a copy of our comic book by donation, please write to illustratedjourney@gmail.com