Really nice Mitch. I don’t know what to say except that you continue to impress me with every new drawing and sketch you post up here.
Your dad has got Carl spot-on! And since he seems to be the most difficult Up character to draw, that’s no mean feat!
I agree with him- your new ‘shapely’ sketches, although rougher, really do capture the essence of Russell. I especially like the one where he’s sort of looking up, with his eyes closed and he’s smiling, since you’ve got the proportions just right and so it makes him look really 3D without you adding too much detail.
And I look forward to seeing your Russell animation, Mitch! 
Aw… man. I’ve missed out on a lot! Well… rolls up sleeves here I go!
Storyboard panel: Looks good, though the canyon walls and rocks can do with more ‘definition’, cos’ they looked like clouds to me at first. Was that from one of the featurettes where they show the house floating through the ravine with Russell hanging from it?
Russell-ness: I like the way how you smuged his cheeks to give it that rosy look!
Dug “Thank You” card: Did you actually give that to your doctor? Cute pic of Dug, no complaints here. 
Ellie: I thought they were pretty expressive. 
No idea why she’s wearing the aviator’s cap, but other than that, I like your depiction of emotions.
The Seedy and the Sublime: Ooh… I like the colours for your first pic. That’s your avvie right?
I like reading the background info for your second. Really good to have inspiring music playing in the background and just let those juices flow… it shows in the drawing. Very whimsical and cheerful… Russell putting on those goggles. No criticisms.
Refined Carl: Looks okay to me. It’s a rough sketch, so I’m more ‘lenient’ on it, heheh.
DeviantArtID: Now this I love! Remy looks so adorable with his face turned to one side and yawning (huh, me, calling a rat cute… 
). I like your use of French words, and how you picked them from one of the guidebooks. The Duracell battery commercials… that’s a weird thing to like. Cos’ the bunny just keeps on going and never stops? Some kinda visual metaphor for your life? I hate flies and unsightly messes too… Very nice. It would be nice if you added a ‘flowery’ border design or a masthead… is it meant to look like a menu card? Cos’ sorry to say, but right now it looks like a powerpoint slide… other than that, it’s very good!
Jessie: Pretty spot on, you nailed those expressions. I would probably suggest you add more freckles for the last two…
My Dad’s Drawing: Your dad’s a natural! I love the ‘guidelines’, the smudges around the knuckles and under the chin… the stroke of the hair… everything is so detailed and yet seems so effortless… a most triumphant work of art that could only come with years of practice! 2 seconds is superhuman, by the way… I can barely put my pencil to paper before time is up (I know you were exaggerating, just poking fun). Excellent!
Russell: Good advice your dad gave. Russell looks more ‘flowy’ and natural. The first one (Russell yawning) is adorable! Usually if my piece looks too stiff, I just ‘relax’ and doodle organic shapes to loosen things up. It’s something you learn by doing and with comments by others.
Whew! Well, show us your rough animatic when you’re ready! 
The Star Swordsman - Thanks, dude!
lizardgirl - Thank you very much, lizardgirl!
Gee, thanks! I’m glad I’m not the only one who liked how this particular sketch turned out.
thedriveintheatre - Your comments and critique are most appreciated. Thank you ever so much!
Ha-ha! “They looked like clouds…”. I heartely agree with you, though. The backgrounds, in particular, are rather vague, and Russell blends in too well with the scenery in the last panel. I’ll make sure to add more definition to my storyboard panels the next time I lay some out.
Yep, that was from one of those very featurettes – the “Dug” one, if I’m not much mistaken.
I haven’t given it to him yet, but I will during my next appointment to see him. I hope he likes it!
Gee, thanks! I still don’t think I enhanced her expressions, though – the bottom two, at least, could do with a little tweaking and more exaggeration, in my opinion.
As for the aviator’s cap, she adorned it in the storyboard panels that I referred to while drawing them, and she’s wearing it for a reason. I imagine they kept it on her in the final film, but I’m not sure.
Ohhh… ignore that “Seedy and Sublime” one. I already knew that the top one sucked (and, yep, that is from my avatar), but it was wishful thinking on my part to assume that I actually nailed Russell anatomically. It’s a wreck, but thanks for the compliment, in any case.
Ohhh. Ha-ha! No, you’re thinking of the Energizer commercials. This is Duracell:
I enjoyed watching their commercials as a kid and have always loved their signature sound effect (“ba do dee”, or however you “pronounce” it; heheh). One of my favorite pasttimes is changing the Duracell batteries in both my toys and my sisters’ toys, even though I sometimes complain about doing it. Also, on some of the old Duracell batteries (or, at least, on a special type of Duracell battery, if they even sell it anymore…), you could push these little white spots on the ends of the battery and watch this diminutive meter on the side change color/go up and down so as you could see how “charged up” the battery was. I just loved that.
I don’t know. I love the Duracell batteries. May the weirdness ensue. I do love the Energizer commercials too, though! Now, those actually are visual metaphors of my life, but that’s another story.
Ha-ha! Well, once again, I concur. It does look a bit… formulaic, I suppose. It was intentional, but I agree with you in that it could definitely use a border (hold the flowers).
Oh gosh. The freckles! I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for mentioning that!
That’s a smart route to take. Good idea! You’d think I would think of these things. Heheh.
Once again, thank you very much for your comments and critique, everyone! I’ll be sure to post up my piece of animated junk when I’m finished with it.
By the way, I told my dad that you guys like his Carl drawing and he perked up.
Oh, and here’s one last thing that I forgot to post up:
My sister and I were goofing off that day. (snigger)
– Mitch
I must say that in those last few sketches of Russell alone, I have seen a significant amount of improvement. Working on shape rather than worrying about detail really seemed to bring a whole new look to the way you draw Russell… These have to be my favorite sketches so far. Ever.
You should put them up on dA so I can favorite them.
My favorite sketch has to be the top one of the second picture; the one of his eyes closed. There’s something so beautiful and natural about that one… and you have captured his personality perfectly.
Oh, and tell your dad me and my sister like, just about died when we saw his sketch of Carl. He is such an incredible artist… your style really seems to reflect his in a way. I mean, when I looked at it I immediately thought of you (no, not just because he’s your dad… haha ). You both have this “way” with sketches. No matter how “dirty” they may look as compared to clean line art, your sketches always turn out so organic and beautiful. <3 Gosh, I freakin’ love you guys’ style…!!
Keep up all of your great work, and get creative with those “shapes”!
little chef
Your dad is an amazing artist, Mitch. His sketch of Carl is wonderful!
And I’m lovin’ your latest Russell sketches! I was always one to start with detail first, but a few drawing classes got me looking at the overall picture. So I know how hard it is to switch that mindset and focus on shapes first! Keep it up!
Oh gosh, I loved that as a kid too! My dad would teach my siblings and I how to press the terminals and we would play with it so often our fingers got sore! 
Ah, good times…
‘Tents are Hard’ is a barrel of laughs! Hearing Russell swear is so unexpected, though I think he would pronounce it the American way of “*ss” instead of the Brit “*rse”. I don’t know… it’s still funny though!
red - Gee whiz, thank you very much, red! You’re a master at “over-complimentation”. (snigger)
Ha-ha. Perhaps I will.
Hannahmation - Thank you, Hannah!
It’s ridiculously hard; at least, for me it is. I really need to get into a creditable art school so as I can be “broken” as far as over-doing it on detail goes.
thedriveintheatre - Ha-ha. Cool! I’m glad I’m not the only one who liked those batteries.
Cha, I agree, although the only reason why I did that is because I would never say the word *ss, whereas I will say the word “arse”. It just sounds more… “proper”, for some reason. I’m weird. (snigger)
Thanks, dude!
My dad really appreciates all the compliments you guys have been giving him, by the way. I haven’t showed him your actual comments yet, but I did tell him that you like his work. He was very touched.
All right. Now for something a little more sophisticated…
Campfire Tales - Unfinished:
Campfire Tales - Finished:
Yeah!! Detail! Normally, I don’t dive this far into a composition, but I was so captivated by this one image of Russell that I absolutely had to draw it.
Here are further comments on this piece, which I copied and pasted from my deviantArt account:
"Concerning this particular piece: My sister bought the official Up game before the film came out, so we played around with it and discovered that, if you earn enough points, you can “purchase” such delectable trinkets as original concept art and high-resolution images. The sixth resolution image you can “buy” is one of Russell glancing at Mr. Fredricksen during the campfire sequence. I thought that it was the cutest thing, but I loved it even more after I saw the film, for this particular moment happens to be one of my favorites in Up. So, naturally, I drew it. The expression here is one that Russell makes right after he says, [spoil]“Phyllis isn’t my mom,”[/spoil] if I’m not much mistaken.
Heh. You know what’s funny? I spent most of my time rendering the face… before kind of rushing through the shading on the sash, and yet… it’s the sash that now looks the best to me. Also, the flag and the sleeve on which it’s sown isn’t nearly rendered enough, and the badges look like Oreo cookies…"
Despite the flaws, I had so much fun rendering this that it’s not even funny. I swear, I can’t wait to do something like this again, so much so that I’ll probably whip up a similar composition in the near future – tonight, if I can help it.
See, this is why I have to be a technical lighter or something of the sort when I get to Pixar. I love it too much! I absolutely love to render.
By the way, for those of you who are wondering… I posted up the unfinished version of the composition along with the fully-rendered result because I kind of like how it looked as an incomplete piece.
– Mitch
You already know how I feel about this piece.
I really like seeing the in progress version with it. It’s neat to see your process and how you move throughout a piece.
Great Russel art Mitch!
Wow, you’ve got some great stuff. Your dad is an outstanding artist and it’s great that you can learn so much together. You have a real passion and love for what you’re creating and that shows through in your artwork. Congratulations and good luck creating!
Thank you very much for your kind words, everyone!! I really appreciate them.
I still draw…
mitch-el.deviantart.com/gallery/
I still animate, too…
Mitch-el.deviantart.com/art/Boun … -130845935
Even though it doesn’t look like there’s much that’s been added to my gallery since that Russell composition (featured above), I’ve been drawing more than you think, or, at least, as often as time permits (and when I feel like it, which is usually every night [I draw better at night, for some reason]). So far, the latest character that I absolutely love to draw is Roger Rabbit. I can’t believe I waited over ten years to sketch him… shakes head
– Mitch
You know, as much as I love art, I’ve never really looked up to someone, yet you managed to do that to me. I look up to you. Really do.
Some people say that cute things can’t possibly get any cuter, but you’ve just proven it to me with your drawings of Russell. Seriously, I’ve never seen someone portray him so adorable like you do.
I believe I praised you on DeviantART too - I’m Ribbedebie.
Keep it up!
I love your Remy id, too: he looks so dang cute like that. Reminds me to watch Ratatouille again.
Mitch? What are you doing here!? You’re not supposed to be around these parts anymore.
Nice stuff, that Roger Rabbit one is insane.
Badger - Oh, yes! I remember you from deviantArt! It’s nice to see you here on Pixar Planet! Welcome to the site!
Aww, gee. Well, thank you very much! I find it rather odd that people look up to me from an artistic stand-point, as I don’t much like my work, but I’m very honored and humbled by it at the same time. So, once again, thank you!! hugs
DocKenobi - Ha! Yeah, I’ve become rather notorious for being the resident “ghost” of Pixar Planet. I pop in; I pop out. It’s ridiculous. I’ll get back into the habit of visiting this site frequently one of these days, though.
Thank you very much, by the way! I appreciate it.
Just to prove to everyone that I’m stil alive, here are a few compositions that I’ve done recently:
Young Carl Fredricksen -
Jessie -
Bolt Sketches -
Hiccup and Toothless -
The drawing of young Carl Fredricksen was done for my good friend, ffdude1906. He was feeling down one day, so I decided to draw him something. Needless to say, I got a bit carried away, and ended up with a composition that took me a total of seven hours to complete, give or take – the longest amount of time that I’ve ever spent on a drawing. It was drawn traditionally and colored digitally with Photoshop CS2.
The Jessie composition was also drawn traditionally and colored in Photoshop, and was done for Lee Unkrich (who is on Twitter). I think I should have spent more time on this one…
It took forever to get Bolt to look on-model, but I think my efforts were worth it… sort of. More practice, I need.
Regarding my efforts to draw Hiccup and Toothless, the results were less than note-worthy, but I had fun sketching them out!
All in all, I think that I’m improving…
– Mitch
Hey Mitch ! Good to see some drawings from you again. Impressive work, particularly on Carl and Jessie
You must be kidding, right ? I think I told you the same thing before, but I’ll say it again anyway : if you go way back in this thread, you won’t believe it’s the person who did these drawings. It’s amazing to see how you improved in only a few years. That shows your determination and hard work.
Way to go, Mitch
Those are really good! I like Young Carl Fredrickson and Jessie ( I could never draw them in my life! People are so hard.) he looks just like he does in the movie! And your sketches of Bolt are so adorable.
Archibald - Hello there, Archibald! It’s nice to talk to you again, Sir. How have you been?
Yes, I was kidding regarding that comment. Ha-ha. I do see the improvement, even though I’m still not entirely pleased with my work. Sometimes I’ll look back at my old drawings and laugh at how bad they are. One of the reasons why I prefer to save my juvenile sketches is so as I may keep track of my progress.
Thank you very much for the kind words! I really do appreciate them.
skunklover - I never thought that I would be able to draw people either, but I’m slowly getting better at it and am loving it! Keep practicing, and you’ll be able to overcome the same obstacles!
Thank you very much for the compliments! You’re too kind.
– Mitch
It’s so cool you’re back with more! You’re a constant inspiration to the community here for sure.
I love your rendering on Campfire Tales, and it’s great you may have found your calling as a lighting director (though judging from your other works, character design and animator wouldn’t be out of the question, either!). Love the subtle expression, that fleeting moment when he reveals one of the movie’s most poignant lines.
Young Carl has to be your best colouring effort yet! I swear, it looks like it’s from a glossy comic book. You mentioned you coloured it digitally, but it looks like watercolour to me! How did you achieve this effect (Was it a special brush? Or just lots of render layers?)? I’m sure Chris would’ve loved it!
The Jessie portrait ain’t bad either. Nothing to complain here. Did Lee-like-it?
I have to agree with you your Bolt doodles need more work. Something seems off about them… perhaps his nose is too big? Anyway, that’s more I can say, since I absolutely stink at drawing animal characters!
Hiccup looks cool, but a little generic. Maybe you could choose a pose which would reveal more of his goofy character? I do love your half-completed sketch of Toothless! He looks like a cat! I’d really love to see you complete that, or try another pose. He has a very sinewy, limber look to him, I think Chris or someone else described him like a panther. I haven’t tried Toothless, because a) I’m a chicken b) I’m in the midst of another piece and want to complete it before I embark on some HTTYD fanart. But I can’t wait to try! Looks like a fun character to render.
thedriveintheatre - First and foremost, thank you very much for your input, especially in regards to critique! Goodness knows I tend to receive a surplus of compliments and a minimal amount of “correctional” comments, so I thank you for taking the time to pinpoint what errors you think you’ve caught.
Yes, indeed. I always admired how shots were lit in films, but pursuing a career as a lighting artist didn’t strike me as optional at first because I was so focused on the aspects of the film-making industry (in animation) that were more… “pronounced” or well-known, as it where, such as animation, storyboarding, and character design. The lighting department, although just as important as any other aspect of a film crew, is one that I see as kind of… being in the background, which is exactly where I prefer to be when working on a group project. As for a character designer or an animator, I would love to be one, but I don’t think that I’m cut out for it – I don’t have that… specific talent to be a designer, and I’ve never truly had the drive to do animation on a daily basis. I appreciate the compliments, though!
Many thanks to you for the kind words on that “Campfire Tales” piece. Whenever I look at it I feel that I could have worked on it more, but I’m glad that people like it.
The Carl composition looks like it was rendered in watercolor to you, eh? That’s interesting. I simply used regular paint brushes in Photoshop and then went over most of the strokes with the “Blur” tool so as to soften the edges where color met color. I also used varying weights for both the “Brush” and “Blur” tools.
Concerning layers, I believe that I only used two in total. I’m one of those people who hates using millions of layers in a composition, so I try to do everything in just two or even one layer(s). I’ll probably end up adding more as I become more skilled artistically, though.
Ha-ha. Yes, Chris did like it, and I’m glad that I was able to put a smile on his face!
Mr. Unkrich never did respond to the Jessie drawing, but I don’t really mind, seeing as I just have fun drawing in general. He’s a busy guy.
Good! I like to hear that! Critique is always welcome! I think that Bolt’s nose is too small in the left sketch and too crooked in the one on the right; plus, the angles are a bit odd, so that threw me off. More practice, I need!
Hmm. Generic, you say. I think you’re right. I was just starting out, so I didn’t intend for it to be a drop-dead gorgeous sketch, but I concur in that it’s too plain. I’m going to practice drawing him more and putting him in different (and full-body) poses to as to try to get the hang of sketching humans.
Really? How funny. I’m not really that crazy about the Toothless sketch, but I’m glad that you like it! I’ll probably never finish that particular drawing, but I might do a completely different one of him to color. We’ll see.
Oh, you should give it a shot! I’d love to see your rendition of Toothless!
Once again, thank you very much for the comments and critique! It is most appreciated.
– Mitch