two old men.

I decided not to refine this, ink it, or color it, leaving it sketchy on purpose. I didn't want this to go into scraps, and I hope nobody sends it there because it's sketchy.

I may not ever show it, but I do owe a lot to these guys.

Ollie Johnston (hands raised), and Frank Thomas (shrinking in 'fear' ), two of Disney's 'Nine Old Men.'

Ollie Johnston passed away on Monday at the age of 95. he was the last surviving member of this group; one of the greatest artists of the past 75 years.

When I was in school I had a period where I thought Japanese animation was five million times better than anything America could come up with. At the time I was doing a lot of art projects and actually had a couple of Disney animators mentor me (Thank you, Rusty, thank you, Phil) a bit with some of my stuff. I think I was an ass and I didn't fully appreciate all the hard work people put into animated films back in the day--at least, that's what I exuded. I'm older now and even though I still draw in a heavily Japanese-influenced style at times, I'd like to think that I, and my art has grown, or at least, branched off a bit. See, if it weren't for guys like Ollie, Frank, and the others, we'd have crap for entertainment. (Hell, without Walt Disney, Osamu Tezuka may have never created some of his best works . . .)

Go read The Illusion of Life, by the way. I'll be rereading it now.

To read more about the Nine Old Men, go here: [link]